91
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
65
Direct injuries
$10.7M
Property damage
Tornado in Tillman County, Oklahoma: 91 recorded events between 1951 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #78 nationally and #13 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Tillman County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Tillman County is the 2010s, when 18 of the county's 91 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 Tillman County archive, tornado makes up 9.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #78 for this hazard and #13 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 97.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Tillman County with 46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-04-10 | EF4 | 39.7 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 2011-11-07 | EF4 | 17.4 mi | 500 yd | Crossed in |
| 1954-05-01 | EF4 | 68.6 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1954-05-01 | EF3 | 12.3 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-05-16 | EF3 | 40.4 mi | 1,600 yd | Crossed in |
| 1977-05-20 | EF3 | 1.5 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1973-06-18 | EF3 | 3.3 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1958-11-17 | EF3 | 65.8 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 1979-04-10 | EF2 | 74.1 mi | 1,056 yd | Crossed in |
| 2018-05-02 | EF2 | 4.1 mi | 600 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 1973 | F0 | 0 | 29 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 19, 1973 | F3 | 0 | 29 | $250K | |
| Apr 10, 1979 | F2 | 0 | 3 | $2.5M | |
| May 4, 2001 | GRANDFIELD | F1 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Apr 10, 1979 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K | |
| Apr 10, 1979 | F4 | 0 | 1 | $250K | |
| Jun 29, 1952 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $3K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2024 | LOVELAND | EF1 | $2K |
| May 1, 2024 | HOLLISTER | EF1 | $50K |
| May 1, 2024 | TIPTON | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2024 | GRANDFIELD | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 1, 2022 | HOLLISTER | EF1 | $10K |
| Jun 1, 2022 | TIPTON | EF1 | $6K |
| May 5, 2022 | LOVELAND | EFU | $0 |
| Oct 13, 2021 | MANITOU | EF1 | $4K |
| Oct 13, 2021 | FREDERICK | EF1 | $50K |
| Oct 13, 2021 | FREDERICK | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Tillman County
- Hail 454
- Thunderstorm Wind 391
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This brief tornado formed on the west side of Grandfield near Highway 70 and tracked northward for approximately 1/2 mile, covering a distance of 5 to 6 blocks. Two grain storage bins were destroyed. The wall of a garage was blown out. Power poles were snapped, and large trees were pulled out of the ground and layed within 50 feet of their original location. In addition, stadium bleachers were blown over, and a chain-linked fence was destroyed. One man was injured when he was blown out of a barn.
This tornado was first observed by a storm chaser at 932 pm CDT and likely formed near County Road E1830 just east of County Road N2320. Over the next 40 minutes, the tornado meandered slowly eastward along E1830 Road then turned northeast reaching near N2360 Road and E1820 Road. The tornado then turned and moved west-northwest along EW1820 Road finally dissipating near N2340 Road. The tornado occurred in a very rural area of Tillman County, although two farm homes were damaged near the easternmost point of the tornado path. A few barns were also damaged, otherwise the damage was primarily to trees and a few power poles. ||Although the damage is rated as EF1, velocity data from the nearby KFDR radar gives strong indication that the tornado may have been much stronger than observed damage would indicate. The maximum observed rotational velocity from KFDR reached 114 knots.
This tornado developed 3.5 miles southwest of Fredrick and moved north or just east of due north for 7 miles. A barn had significant wall damage to the northwest of Frederick. Otherwise, there were a few pivot irrigators that were tipped over to the southwest and west of Frederick, and tree and power pole damage was also observed along the path.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Tillman County, Oklahoma?
91 tornado events are recorded in Tillman County between 1951 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Tillman County?
The strongest tornado on record in Tillman County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Tillman 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 Tillman County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/tillman-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.