Oklahoma tornadoes

Are tornadoes common in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma averages about 70 tornadoes a year since 2000, 3rd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2024 (152). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Oklahoma records 658 tornadoes since 1950, 2nd of 51 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Florida 701
2. 2. Oklahoma 658
3. 3. Mississippi 614
4. 4. Louisiana 579
5. 5. Illinois 567
6. 6. Kansas 564
7. 7. Iowa 555
8. 8. Alabama 537
9. 9. Indiana 492
10. 10. Maryland 438

Source: NOAA SPC, tornadoes 1950-2025, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Oklahoma have the most tornadoes?

Per square mile, Cleveland County leads Oklahoma: 73 days with a tornado record since 1950, 135.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Oklahoma County has the most tornado records (141 since 1950); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Cleveland County 135.5 (113)
2. Tulsa County 128.0 (98)
3. Oklahoma County 124.1 (141)
4. Mayes County 106.8 (93)
5. McClain County 99.9 (84)
6. Wagoner County 94.3 (63)
7. Rogers County 90.3 (83)
8. Kay County 82.6 (103)
9. Murray County 81.7 (46)
10. Seminole County 77.4 (61)
11. Pontotoc County 76.4 (73)
12. Canadian County 74.7 (110)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1950 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is tornado season in Oklahoma?

62% of its tornadoes since 1950 fell in April and May. The busiest month is May (1,855 tornadoes).

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments by the month they began, 1950-2025.

What were the deadliest tornadoes in Oklahoma?

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (state segments: deaths and path inside Oklahoma), 1950-2025; counties are the first four the SPC lists for the segment. SPC severe weather database.

Where have the strongest tornadoes tracked in Oklahoma?

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, start and end points of each track; county lines: Census Bureau cartographic boundaries (2017), via us-atlas. SPC severe weather database. Census cartographic boundary files.

The strongest tornadoes in Oklahoma

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database; F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after.

The longest tornado paths in Oklahoma

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments: path length and width inside the state. SPC severe weather database.

Tornadoes in every Oklahoma county

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database: whole tornadoes whose track touched the county (any state segment listing it). SPC severe weather database.

Is Oklahoma in Tornado Alley?

Tornado Alley has no official boundary; the Storm Prediction Center calls it a media nickname for the central U.S. area of relatively high tornado occurrence. By the record, Oklahoma ranks 3rd of 50 states for tornadoes rated 1 or higher per square mile since 1950 (372 per 10,000 square miles), and it is one of the Plains states at the core of the area the name usually means.

Tornado Alley, measured: the states by density and maps of where tornadoes began in two eras.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database and Online Tornado FAQ. SPC's tornado FAQ.

The costliest tornadoes in Oklahoma

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $250M, in the dollars of the day) holds: May 11, 1982 (tornado, Jackson County); April 19, 1981 (tornado, Tulsa County).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are tornadoes becoming more frequent in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. The Storm Prediction Center notes that tornado reports rose especially around the installation of the NEXRAD Doppler radar network in the mid-1990s, so a rising count is partly better detection; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments.

The most recent tornadoes in Oklahoma

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for tornadoes in Oklahoma

FEMA has declared 48 disasters in Oklahoma for tornadoes, counting its incident type and declarations that name tornado in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 48 were major disasters, the latest on March 18, 2025.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Cleveland County: the county's whole recordThe Oklahoma county with the most tornadoes per square mile
• Tornadoes across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in OklahomaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Hail in Oklahoma31,601 records
• Severe thunderstorm wind in Oklahoma22,248 records
• Drought in Oklahoma6,658 records