National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Thunderstorms Across the Southeast U.S.; Elevated to Locally Critical Fire Weather in Colorado

A few strong to marginally severe thunderstorms are possible across the Southeast U.S. Friday. A Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) outlook has been issued. Strong winds and hail will be the main threats. Elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions will persist across south-central Colorado today due to dry conditions and gusty winds. Read More >

  Select a county from Oklahoma from the menus below.
 
Tornado Track Map for Alfalfa County, OK
 
Alfalfa County, OK Tornadoes Prior to 1950
# Date Time
(CST)
Path
Length
(miles)
Path
Width
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Path
  05/08/1882 eve       3 13 Alfalfa "Beatles" - Cherokee
  05/19/1898   20     1 1 Alfalfa Near "Augusta" (1 W Carmen)
  05/23/1903   70 70   2 30 Ellis/ Dewey/ Woodward/ Major/ Alfalfa Near Camargo - near Cestos - near "Richmond" (7 NW Seiling) - near "Augusta" (1 W Carmen) - near Carmen
  07/13/1925 1700       0   Alfalfa Near Driftwood
  05/20/1949 2100 15     1 27 Alfalfa unknown specific location
Alfalfa County, OK Tornadoes (1950-Present*)
# Date Time
(CST)
Path
Length
(miles)
Path
Width
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Path
1 03/24/1954 1515 0.1 880 F1 0 0 Alfalfa Near Goltry
2 04/29/1954 1530 0.8 100 F1 0 0 Alfalfa Near Amorita
3 06/18/1955 1730 2 100 F1 0 0 Alfalfa near Cherokee
4 06/18/1955 1730 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Alfalfa near Cherokee
5 04/02/1956 1905 20 400 F3 0 2 Woods/ Alfalfa Hopeton - W of Burlington
6 07/01/1956 1845 2 10 F1 0 0 Alfalfa near Burlington
7 04/22/1957 2000 0.1 50 F0 0 0 Alfalfa near Aline
8 05/04/1959 1730 0.1 10 F2 0 0 Alfalfa Just SW of Helena
9 10/29/1961 0730 4 50 F? 0 0 Alfalfa SW of Burlington - N of Burlington
10 05/20/1962 1855 0.3 100 F2 0 0 Alfalfa Cherokee
11 05/28/1962 1545 0.1 10 F2 0 0 Alfalfa .5 W Ingersoll
12 04/16/1969 1430 14 200 F2 0 0 Alfalfa W and N of Carmen
13 04/19/1972 1505 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 2 N Cherokee
14 04/30/1973 2020 13 100 F2 0 6 Alfalfa/ Grant NE side of Great Salt Plains Reservoir - W of Medford
15 03/11/1976 1700 17 200 F2 0 0 Alfalfa 4 SW Helena - Great Salt Plains Reservoir
16 09/11/1981 1930 0.1 10 F1 0 0 Alfalfa near Cherokee
17 05/17/1983 1932 3 100 F2 0 0 Alfalfa 2.5 S Jet - Jet (south part)
18 06/08/1984 1800 0.1 17 F1 0 0 Alfalfa 2 SSW Burlington
19 09/22/1985 1715 4 500 F2 0 0 Alfalfa 3 SW- 1 SE Cherokee
20 05/16/1986 1918 5 30 F1 0 0 Alfalfa 2 S-5 ESE Cherokee
21 03/26/1991 1945-1957 9 300 F2 0 0 Alfalfa 5 SSE Helena- 5 NE Goltry
22 09/21/1992 1545 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 1 NW Cherokee
23 10/17/1994 1547 0.2 30 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 5 SW Aline
24 10/17/1994 1550 0.2 30 F1 0 0 Alfalfa 4 WSW Carmen
25 05/17/1995 1552-1610 12 400 F2 0 0 Woods/ Alfalfa 12 S Dacoma- Aline- McWillie
26 05/24/1998 1745 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 1 S Amorita
27 05/24/1998 1750 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 3 ENE Amorita
28 05/24/1998 1755-1805 5 100 F1 0 0 Alfalfa/ Grant 8 E Amorita - 9 SSE Manchester
29 10/04/1998 1425-1443 10 440 F2 0 0 Woods/ Alfalfa 11 SSW Dacoma - 4 NW Carmen
30 10/04/1998 1505 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 5 SE Cherokee
31 04/05/1999 0315-0322 7 200 F1 0 0 Alfalfa 6 WSW Cherokee - Ingersoll - 4.5 N Cherokee
32 05/31/1999 2207-2210 2 75 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 3 W - 1.5 N Jet
33 03/15/2000 1652-1656 3 50 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 7.5 SE Byron - 13 E Ingersoll
34 05/25/2000 2253-2307 7 50 F1 0 0 Alfalfa 5 E Carmen - 7 SSE Cherokee
35 09/07/2001 1425-1428 2 50 F0 0 0 Alfalfa Helena - 2 E Helena
36 04/17/2002 2327-18/0028 34 1500 F2 0 1 Major/ Woods/ Alfalfa 15 WNW Orienta - 2 SW Ingersoll
37 04/18/2002 0039-0040 0.8 75 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 3 S - 2 SSE Cherokee
38 04/19/2003 1540 0.2 80 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 7 NNW Jet
39 03/21/2005 1516-1524 1.5 50 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 2.5 ESE Byron - 2.5 ESE Amorita
40 03/21/2005 1545-1546 0.3 100 F0 0 0 Alfalfa 10 E Byron
41 04/14/2012 1847-1904 10 400 EF1 0 0 Alfalfa 10 WSW - 5 5 NW Cherokee
42 04/14/2012 1857-1923 12 400 EF0 0 0 Alfalfa 3 NW Cherokee - 1 NW Amorita
43 04/14/2012 1919-2020 35 1000 EF1 0 0 Alfalfa OK/ Grant OK/ Harper KS 3 SE Amorita OK - 1.5 NNW Danville KS
44 04/30/2012 1834 0.1 20 EF0 0 0 Alfalfa 2.5 W Jet
45 04/30/2012 1840-1857 3 30 EF0 0 0 Alfalfa 3 NW - 6 NNW Jet
46 05/16/2015 1722-1742 16 400 EF1 0 0 Major/ Alfalfa 5.5 NW Fairview - Cleo Springs - 5 SE Aline
47 02/26/2023 2031-2032 0.2 50 EF0 0 0 Alfalfa 1 NNW Amorita
48 06/17/2023 2024-2025 1.5 30 EF? 0 0 Alfalfa 1 N - 2 NE Burlington
 

Significant Tornadoes in Alfalfa County

  Date Time
(CST)
Path
Length
(miles)
Path
Width
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Path
  04/02/1956 1905 20 400 F3 0 2 Woods/ Alfalfa Hopeton - W of Burlington

At 7:05 pm CST on April 2nd, a tornado damaged several houses and overturned 11 box cars at Hopeton, and produced extensive damage on 11 farms in Woods and Alfalfa counties. One person was injured by flying debris, and property damage was estimated at $100,000.

  04/30/1973 2020 13 100 F2 0 6 Alfalfa/ Grant NE side of Great Salt Plains Reservoir - W of Medford

This tornado touched down on the northeast side of the Great Salt Plains Reservoir area, completely demolishing one mobile home and damaging 3 other trailers, a house, and a cafe. The tornado continued east-northeastward before lifting just west of Medford. The tornado was accompanied by straight-line winds which produced damage to many buildings over a half-mile-wide path within Medford.

  04/17/2002 2327-18/0028 34 1500 F2 0 1 Major/ Woods/ Alfalfa 15 WNW Orienta - 2 SW Ingersoll

Numerous severe thunderstorms were observed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of April 17th and early morning of April 18th. Four tornadoes were confirmed, and there were several reports of very large hail, even one report of softball size hail (4.5 inches in diameter). The tornadoes were at night with the largest tornado, believed to be up to one mile wide, causing a maximum of F2 damage over a 34-mile path across northwest Oklahoma. Another tornado resulted in F3 damage.

This tornado was captured on video by a storm chaser, approximately 2 miles south of Highway 412 in northern Major County. The tornado moved northward for 4 miles before crossing the Cimarron River into Woods County. No structures were affected in Major County.

The tornado curved to the right as it crossed the Cimarron River and moved northeastward for 15 miles before entering Alfalfa County at 0005 CST on April 18th. In Woods County, about 2 miles southwest of the intersection of State Highway 45 and the Woods County line, the roof of a trailer house was completely removed, and an exterior wall on the northeast side of the house was badly damaged and partially removed from the structure. The owner of the house received minor abrasions to his arm. Across the road from the house, a barn was unroofed, and most of the walls were destroyed. Otherwise, only tree damage was observed across Woods County.

The tornado tracked for another 15 miles in Alfalfa County before dissipating 2 miles southwest of Ingersoll. As the tornado entered Alfalfa County, damage was sustained to outbuildings, trees and power lines, along State Highway 45 to the west of Carmen. Large trees were uprooted or snapped, and a windmill was destroyed along EW 25 Road to the east of NS 253 Road, or about 4.5 miles southwest of Lambert. Along the west side of NS 255 Road, between EW 23 Road and EW 22 Road (about 2.5 miles west of Lambert), a barn roof was removed as was the west section of the barn. Numerous power poles were snapped along EW 22 Road in a ½ mile area to the east of NS 255 Road. Several high-tension power poles were damaged or destroyed west of NS 256 Road and south of EW 21 Road. Significant tree damage and a couple of destroyed outbuildings were observed at the northeast corner of EW 20 and NS 256 Roads, about 5.5 miles southwest of Cherokee. The tornado continued north-northeast with the last damage observed along EW 17 Road just east of NS 257 Road, 2 miles southwest of Ingersoll, or about 4 miles west-northwest of Cherokee. In total, the tornado persisted for 62 minutes and traveled 34 miles.

 

Records taken from the Storm Prediction Center archive data, "Storm Data", and data from the National Weather Service office in Norman. Data modified as described in NOAA Tech Memo NWS SR-209 (Speheger, D., 2001: "Corrections to the Historic Tornado Database").

Historic data, especially before 1950, are likely incomplete.