46
Recorded events
7
Direct deaths
229
Direct injuries
$24.1M
Property damage
Tornado in Ottawa County, Oklahoma: 46 recorded events between 1956 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #455 nationally and #58 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Ottawa County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Ottawa County is the 2010s, when 13 of the county's 46 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 Ottawa County archive, tornado makes up 7.5% of all recorded severe weather across 5 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #455 for this hazard and #58 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 84.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Ottawa County with 23 recorded events, while Nov 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-05-10 | EF4 | 75.5 mi | 1,760 yd | Crossed in |
| 1956-04-03 | EF4 | 41.8 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 24.8 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1973-09-24 | EF3 | 20.8 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1961-05-07 | EF3 | 8.9 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1960-08-07 | EF3 | 4.7 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2014-04-27 | EF2 | 11.4 mi | 325 yd | Touched down here |
| 2013-05-20 | EF2 | 10.0 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1972-12-29 | EF2 | 31.2 mi | 30 yd | Crossed in |
| 1965-05-15 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 2008 | NORTH MIAMI | EF4 | 6 | 150 | $15.0M |
| Apr 27, 2014 | COMMERCE | EF2 | 1 | 12 | $3.0M |
| Apr 3, 1956 | F4 | 0 | 46 | $250K | |
| Sep 25, 1973 | F3 | 0 | 14 | $250K | |
| Jan 26, 1967 | F2 | 0 | 6 | $25K | |
| May 17, 2015 | FAIRLAND | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $125K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2024 | FAIRLAND | EF1 | $100K |
| Oct 31, 2024 | AFTON | EF1 | $0 |
| May 8, 2024 | PEORIA | EF1 | $30K |
| May 8, 2024 | NARCISSA | EF1 | $50K |
| May 8, 2024 | NARCISSA | EFU | $0 |
| May 8, 2024 | NARCISSA | EFU | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | NORTH MIAMI | EF0 | $50K |
| Jan 3, 2023 | FAIRLAND | EF1 | $75K |
| May 23, 2019 | NORTH MIAMI | EF1 | $75K |
| Apr 30, 2019 | AFTON | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Ottawa County
- Hail 231
- Thunderstorm Wind 204
- Flood 83
- Flash Flood 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado developed at 1620 cst in northeastern Craig County and continued into Ottawa County. The tornado moved rapidly eastward toward the town of Picher where it destroyed about 200 homes, killed six people, and injured another 150 people at about 540 pm. Damage in and around Picher was rated EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. ||The tornado began moving more southeasterly near Picher and struck the north side of Quapaw. While this tornado was beginning to weaken east of Quapaw, the supercell produced another tornado a few miles east-northeast of Quapaw that merged with this tornado just east of I-44. After the merger of the two tornadoes, a single tornadic circulation reintensified and became about a mile wide for several miles before moving into Newton County MO.
A tornado damaged or destroyed about 50 homes and businesses in and around Quapaw, destroyed several metal-framed buildings, destroyed barns and outbuildings, blew over several vehicles, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and blew down numerous power poles. At least twelve people were injured in Quapaw from the tornado and one fatality occurred when a brick wall fell onto a vehicle that was parked along side it. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 115 to 125 mph. The tornado continued into Cherokee County, Kansas, where it destroyed homes and businesses in Baxter Springs and injured about two dozen people there.
This tornado snapped or uprooted numerous trees and damaged numerous homes. It moved east-northeast for several miles but turned more easterly after crossing the Neosho River. The most significant damage occurred as the tornado crossed Highway 137, where a metal building and several homes were severely damaged. Many hardwood trees were also snapped above the ground in that area. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 115 to 125 mph.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Ottawa County, Oklahoma?
46 tornado events are recorded in Ottawa County between 1956 and 2024, causing 7 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Ottawa County?
The strongest tornado on record in Ottawa County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Ottawa 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 Ottawa County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/ottawa-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.