54
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
17
Direct injuries
$4.0M
Property damage
Tornado in Major County, Oklahoma: 54 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #323 nationally and #48 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Major County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Major County is the 2010s, when 12 of the county's 54 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Major County archive, tornado makes up 9.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #323 for this hazard and #48 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 89.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Major County with 23 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-05-02 | EF4 | 20.6 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 2011-05-24 | EF3 | 13.2 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1984-10-31 | EF3 | 20.0 mi | 250 yd | Crossed in |
| 1970-04-26 | EF3 | 1.0 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2002-04-17 | EF2 | 34.0 mi | 1,500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-12 | EF2 | 9.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1984-10-31 | EF2 | 8.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1979-05-02 | EF2 | 20.3 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-25 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1961-05-07 | EF2 | 4.9 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2026 | DANE | EF2 | 2 | 0 | $50K |
| May 2, 1979 | F4 | 1 | 15 | $2.5M | |
| May 24, 2011 | DANE | EF3 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 1951 | F1 | 0 | 2 | $3K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2026 | ORIENTA | EF1 | $50K |
| Mar 5, 2026 | DANE | EF2 | $50K |
| Jun 18, 2025 | ISABELLA | EFU | $0 |
| May 25, 2024 | CHESTER | EFU | $0 |
| May 6, 2024 | RINGWOOD | EFU | $0 |
| May 18, 2017 | BOUSE JUNCTION | EF1 | $2K |
| May 18, 2017 | CHESTER | EFU | $0 |
| May 18, 2017 | CHESTER | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2017 | CHESTER | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2017 | RINGWOOD | EFU | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Major County
- Hail 327
- Thunderstorm Wind 189
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado developed near or just southwest of the intersection of County Roads E0560 Road and N2430 Road in Major County where it damaged trees and power poles and twisted a stop sign. The tornado quickly intensified as it approached US-60 west of Fairview. A car along US-60 was hit by this tornado and rolled approximately 520 yards to the northeast. A woman and her daughter were killed in his car. Wooden transmission line poles and standard wooden power poles were broken along and north of US-60. The tornado continued northeast through rural areas of Major County damaging additional trees before dissipating east or southeast of the intersection of E0500 Road and N2460 Road approximately 7 miles west of Fairview.
This tornado is labeled A1 (Segment #3 of the Canton Lake tornado). The large, violent tornado continued north into Major county. The tornado hit homesteads and barns, severely damaging most structures, and splintering trees and power poles. One of the farmsteads received on the upper end of EF-3 damage, with the house completely collapsing and the trees on the property debarked and snapped. The tornado continued near Cedar Springs, damaging the church roof, and severely damaging a mobile home and several buildings at a farmstead. The tornado finally lifted southwest of Fairview. Monetary damage estimates were not available.
This tornado developed just south of US-412 and west of N2520 Road. Along US-412, one home along suffered roof damage, two outbuildings and power poles were damaged. As it moved northeast, additional trees and power poles were damaged before the tornado crossed the Cimarron River. Another home suffered minor damage near the end of the tornado path near E0400 Road about 2 miles west of State Highway 8.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Major County, Oklahoma?
54 tornado events are recorded in Major County between 1951 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Major County?
The strongest tornado on record in Major County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Major County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Major County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/major-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.