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 Okfuskee County, OK
 
Okfuskee County, OK Tornadoes Prior to 1950
# Date Time
(CST)
Path
Length
(miles)
Path
Width
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Path
  05/29/1909 1630 15 200   4 3 Okfuskee/ Creek Near Micawbar - near Newby
  04/08/1925 1730       0 0 Okfuskee W of Weleetka
  05/07/1926 1400 43 200   0 30 Okfuskee/ Okmulgee/ Muskogee Near "Morse" (7 N Okemah) - 3 N Okmulgee - NE of Boynton
  05/04/1941 2000 3 200   0 2 Okfuskee Okemah
  05/02/1942 1530 60 1230   16 many Pottawatomie/ Lincoln/ Okfuskee/ Creek Near McLoud - Paden - Boley - Childsville - Welty - near Tuskegee
  12/26/1942 1100 2 100   0 1 Okfuskee Welty
  04/15/1945 1835 8 33   0 10 Okfuskee 2 E Okemah
Okfuskee County, OK Tornadoes (1950-Present*)
# Date Time
(CST)
Path
Length
(miles)
Path
Width
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Path
1 05/01/1954 1800 39 10 F2 0 6 Pontotoc/ Seminole/ Hughes/ Okfuskee Cedar Grove community - Sasakwa - near Spaulding - near Holdenville.. Yeager.. Wetumka.. Weleetka
2 05/01/1954 1905 6 220 F2 0 0 Seminole/ Okfuskee 1.5 NW Cromwell NNE into western Okfuskee county
3 01/22/1957 0330 64 440 F2 0 0 Pottawatomie/ Seminole/ Hughes/ Okfuskee/ McIntosh Near St. Louis - Wewoka - Wetumka - Weeletka – Ryal [likely tornado family]
4 04/25/1957 2235 11 100 F1 0 0 Okfuskee 2 E Okemah
5 08/31/1959 1330 2 100 F1 0 0 Okfuskee Just NW of Castle
6 05/05/1960 1700 72 800 F5 5 81 Pottawatomie/ Lincoln/ Okfuskee/ Creek S of Shawnee- between Paden and Prague- Iron Post- Sapulpa- NE of Sapulpa
7 02/17/1961 1815 73 300 F3 0 11 Garvin/ Pontotoc/ Pottawatomie/ Seminole/ Hughes/ Okfuskee/ Okmulgee Stratford - Konawa - Wewoka - S of Schulter [tornado family]
8 06/10/1963 1930 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee Near Castle - 1 N Okemah
9 05/10/1964 2235 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee Just SW of Okemah
10 05/17/1966 2245 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 3 N Okfuskee
11 05/29/1970 1750 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 4 W Okemah
12 06/11/1970 1730 0.1 100 F2 0 0 Okfuskee Okemah Airport
13 10/05/1970 1542 25 150 F4 4 84 Pottawatomie/ Lincoln/ Okfuskee Shawnee- Prague- 2 N Paden
14 05/10/1971 1645 7 600 F1 0 0 Okfuskee Just N of Bearden - S of Okemah
15 06/08/1974 1805 30 1300 F3 0 0 Seminole/ Okfuskee 4 N Little - 2 SW Tuskegee
16 03/29/1979 1320 2 30 F2 0 0 Okfuskee 6 W Okemah
17 03/23/1980 1800 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 6 E Welty
18 05/17/1981 1900 34 600 F4 0 2 Seminole/ Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 2 SSE Little- N of Okemah- W edge of Lake Okmulgee
19 05/17/1981 2010 15 350 F3 0 0 Seminole/ Okfuskee SW of Cromwell - just NE of Okemah
20 06/09/1982 1745 0.1 10 F0 0 0 Okfuskee Near Welty
21 09/13/1982 1650 1 50 F2 0 0 Okfuskee SW of Okemah
22 05/14/1986 1726 2 150 F1 0 0 Okfuskee 6- 8 NE Okemah
23 03/30/1993 0030-0045 5 100 F1 0 0 Lincoln/ Okfuskee 2 SE Prague- 3 WSW Paden
24 09/13/1993 1645-1648 1 73 F1 0 0 Okfuskee Bearden- 1 E Bearden
25 05/06/1994 2340 0.8 50 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 0.5 SE- 1.25 SE Bearden
26 05/07/1995 1638 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 3 ESE Okemah
27 05/26/1997 1747 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 2 W Beardon
28 06/16/1997 2000 0.1 30 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 3 S Mason
29 10/04/1998 2137-2208 27 1410 F2 0 4 Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 2 SE Boley - IXL - Haydenville - 3 SW Nuyaka
30 06/01/1999 0418 0.5 50 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 3 N Weleetka
31 09/10/1999 1747 4 150 F1 0 0 Okfuskee 3 N - 2 E Castle
32 05/24/2000 2234 0.2 50 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 10 N Okfuskee
33 03/21/2005 1559-1601 0.7 40 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 5 NE - 6 NE Okemah
34 03/21/2005 1606-1607 0.3 40 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 8 NE Okemah
35 03/21/2005 1612-1622 1.5 50 F0 0 0 Okfuskee 4 NW - 6 N Pharoah
36 10/29/2009 1017 0.5 150 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 1 WSW - 0.5 W Weleetka
37 05/10/2010 1656-1747 37 2200 EF3 0 28 Pottawatomie/ Seminole/ Okfuskee 3 WSW Tecumseh - Tecumseh - 3.5 N Bearden
38 05/10/2010 1745-1810 14 1000 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 4 E Bearden - Clearview - 3 NNW Pharoah
39 05/10/2010 1817-1835 16 650 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 0.5 SSW Boley - Boley - 2 S Okfuskee
40 05/19/2010 1946-1956 8 500 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 3 SSW Micawbar - 1.5 SSE Welty
41 05/19/2010 2005-2017 10 500 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 2.5 ENE Bearden - 1.5 NNE Clearview
42 04/14/2011 1638 0.2 50 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 4 SSW Welty
43 04/14/2011 1705-1726 11 100 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 0.5 S Haydenville - 4 N Nuyaka
44 04/14/2011 1733 0.1 50 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 1.5 NE Castle
45 04/22/2011 1703-1704 0.5 150 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 2.5 SW - 2 S Welty
46 05/19/2013 1817-1840 14 700 EF1 0 0 Lincoln/ Okfuskee/ Creek 3.5 NE Prague - 5.5 SSW Iron Post
47 05/16/2015 2120-2121 1.4 110 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 3.5 NE - 5 NE Okemah
48 11/05/2015 1422-1426 3 100 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 5.5 WSW - 3 W Okemah
49 05/27/2017 1920-1926 2 100 EF0 0 0 Okfuskee 1.5 SSW - 1.5 SE Micawber
50 05/27/2017 1955-2002 0.6 100 EF? 0 0 Okfuskee 3 W - 3 WSW Mason
51 05/22/2019 1534-1535 0.5 100 EF? 0 0 Okfuskee 7 W - 6.5 W Okemah
52 05/22/2019 1541-1543 1 50 EF? 0 0 Okfuskee 1.5 S - .5 SE Castle
53 05/22/2019 1547-1549 0.8 75 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 2.5 SE - 2.6 ESE IXL
54 05/22/2019 1610-1612 0.6 125 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 0.9 NNW - 1.1 N Okfuskee
55 05/22/2019 1623-1633 6 650 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 4.7 E - 9 NE Okemah
56 05/22/2019 1632-1650 7.7 400 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 8.8 ENE Okemah - 3.8 S Nuyaka
57 03/19/2020 0925-0929 2.7 225 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 2.3 SW - 1.5 SE Okemah
58 10/10/2021 2026-2032 2.7 300 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 5 N Paden - 7 WSW Welty
59 05/04/2022 1821-1849 14 1350 EF1 0 0 Seminole/ Okfuskee 4 SW Cromwell - 2 WNW Okemah
60 05/04/2022 1844-1845 0.4 150 EF1 0 0 Okfuskee 3.5 SW - 3.1 SW Okemah
 

Significant Tornadoes in Okfuskee County

  Date Time
(CST)
Length
of Path
(miles)
Width
of Path
(yards)
F-Scale Killed Injured County Location
  05/01/1954 1800 39 10 F2 0 6 Pontotoc/ Seminole/ Hughes/ Okfuskee Cedar Grove community - Sasakwa - near Spaulding - near Holdenville.. Yeager.. Wetumka.. Weleetka

A tornado was observed at 6:00 pm CST about 1 mile east-southeast of Francis, OK and or about 1 mile southwest of the Cedar Grove Community in northern Pontotoc County. As it moved northeastward for about 39 miles, a total of $2.5 million in damages occurred in or near the towns of Francis, Sasakwa, Spaulding, Holdenville, Yeager, Wetumka, and Weleetka.

  05/05/1960 1700 72 800 F5 5 81 Pottawatomie/ Lincoln/ Okfuskee/ Creek S of Shawnee - between Paden and Prague - Iron Post - Sapulpa - NE of Sapulpa

This violent tornado was initially observed as it formed in the North Canadian River bottomlands just south of the city of Shawnee, OK. Several farmsteads and the Resthaven Cemetery were damaged or destroyed 2 miles east of Shawnee. Several more farmsteads were destroyed and general destruction occurred in the Eoontuohka area. At least 14 farmsteads were destroyed between Prague, OK and Paden, OK at 5:27 pm CST. There was extensive destruction in the area.

The tornado was described as a huge, white, barrel-shaped cloud that stayed completely on the ground. Northeast of Prague, a million-dollar refinery received about $750,000 in damage. Several company homes were destroyed. Farmsteads were damaged and destroyed all along the rest of the rest of the long path northeastward.

Two people were killed and eleven injured in the Iron Post area south of Bristow, OK. This tornado caused the most damage as it moved through the west and north portions of Sapulpa, OK at 6:32 pm CST. Three persons were killed and 70 injured, and a total of 1000 people were homeless.

There were about 300 homes destroyed or damaged. Of this total approximately 100 homes were completely destroyed with 100 more receiving heavy damage and another 100 homes incurring partial damage. A school and 2 churches were also destroyed, and trees and utilities were heavily damaged. The storm covered a 12-15 block area in Sapulpa.

The funnel lifted northeast of Sapulpa and was observed aloft over Tulsa, OK at 7:00 pm CST. High winds destroyed a house in Tulsa and other general damage was reported. Large hail fell east and northeast of Shawnee, and some hail was observed near the entire path of the tornado.

  02/17/1961 1815 73 300 F3 0 11 Garvin/ Pontotoc/ Pottawatomie/ Seminole/ Hughes/ Okfuskee/ Okmulgee Stratford - Konawa - Wewoka - S of Schulter [tornado family.]

A parent supercell thunderstorm produced a series of tornadoes from Stratford to Konawa to Wewoka through areas in Okfuskee and Okmulgee counties. The first tornado hit Stratford where considerable damage occurred to 50 homes and several businesses. One person was injured by flying debris in Stratford.

The next report of a tornado occurred in Seminole County at Konowa where the tornado moved northeastward and cut a 3-blick-wide path of destruction through across the city and through the main business district. About 150 homes and 40 businesses were destroyed or damaged. Seven people were injured in Konawa.

The same tornado or possibly a new tornado skipped and only produced spotty damage until it reached Wewoka where about 75 houses were damaged in a path the was 2.5 blocks wide and 11 blocks long. Several farmstead were damaged and two people were injured when their car was picked up off OK State Highway 9 about 6 miles west of Wetumka.

More tornadic damage was evident as several farmsteads, homes, and utility lines were damaged southeast of Pharoah in Okfuskee County and northwest of Henryetta in Okmulgee County, where 1 injury was reported. The last tornado in the series lifted south of Schulter in Okmulgee County.

  10/05/1970 1542 25 150 F4 4 84 Pottawatomie/ Lincoln/ Okfuskee Shawnee - Prague - 2 N Paden

The only violent tornado to occur in October in Oklahoma since records began in 1950, did immense damage to the towns of Shawnee, OK and Prague, OK.  It formed over Shawnee in Pottawatomie County, and traveled through the center of the town before moving northeast and crossing U.S. Interstate Highway I-40 about 6.5 miles northeast of Shawnee.  The tornado cut an intermittent path to the northeast and then hit the town of Prague in Lincoln County. The tornado sliced through the southwestern portion of Prague before it dissipated 2 miles north of Paden, in Okfuskee County. 

Four persons were killed and another 80 injured in Shawnee. At Prague, four people were injured.  In Shawnee, the storm damaged 157 businesses, 564 residential homes, 12 public buildings, 10 churches, and 5 schools.  In Prague, 14 homes and 1 business establishment were damaged.

  05/17/1981 1900 34 600 F4 0 2 Seminole/ Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 2 SSE Little- N of Okemah- W edge of Lake Okmulgee

A long track tornado began 2 mile south-southeast of Little, OK in Seminole County and moved northeast into Okfuskee County. The tornado passed north of Okemah at about 7:35 pm, finally dissipating at the west edge of Lake Okmulgee in Okmulgee County. Damage occurred to houses, trailer houses, outbuildings, livestock, cars, a church, trees, and other vegetation. Softball size hail accompanied the storm.

  10/04/1998 2137-2208 27 1410 F2 0 4 Okfuskee/ Okmulgee 2 SE Boley - IXL - Haydenville - 3 SW Nuyaka

Oklahoma's worst-ever October tornado outbreak took place on the evening of October 4th. A total of 26 tornadoes occurred throughout Oklahoma, of which 7 were in northeastern Oklahoma. This outbreak of severe weather resulted as a powerful, upper-level storm system moved across the central plains and surface low pressure developed over southwestern Oklahoma. Warm humid air quickly invaded the area on the morning of October 4th and then collided with a cold front moving southward by evening. The threat from these storms ran the full range of possibilities from destructive tornadoes to damaging winds to very large hail up to the size of baseballs.

A significant, long-track tornado occurred on the evening of October 4th, following a 27-mile track from 2 miles southeast of Boley in Okfuskee County to 3 miles southwest of Nuyaka in Okmulgee County. The tornado first touched down in Okfuskee County at 9:37 pm CST and lifted over Okmulgee County at 10:08 pm CST. The most significant damage to structures occurred near the communities of IXL and Haydenville, while much of the damage in the rural areas across which the tornado tracked consisted of downed/uprooted trees.

In the small community of IXL, located on OK State Highway 48 north of Okemah, nearly every structure sustained at least some damage. An NWS Storm Survey revealed F2 damage at IXL, where a house and two mobile homes were destroyed. Pieces of one mobile home were found one-half mile away. A local newspaper also reported four businesses and a public building at the IXL Park were destroyed. Six houses and two more mobile homes sustained major damage, while another 21 houses and one mobile home sustained minor damage.

In Haydenville, located north of Okemah on OK State Highway 56, two single-family houses and a mobile home were destroyed. Three houses, three mobile homes, and one public building (the Haydenville Fire Station) sustained major damage. Five houses and one business (the Haydenville Store) sustained minor damage. An NWS Storm Survey revealed F2 damage just southwest of Haydenville, where a mobile home was completely destroyed. Four people inside the trailer were injured, one of them critically. The tie-downs on the double-wide trailer were snapped, and the home appeared to have travelled a significant distance before disintegrating.

The tornado continued into Okmulgee County from Okfuskee County, but only produced F0 damage in the form of numerous trees downed/uprooted along its path. When all was said and done, this tornado tracked 27 miles from 2 miles southeast of Boley to 3 miles southwest of Nuyaka, and it injured four people in Okfuskee County. This tornado was unusual for the fact that it covered such a large area. A survey showed that the damage path was at times 3 miles wide, lending credence to the idea that there were several smaller tornadoes circulating around the larger tornado. The larger tornado reached as wide as 8/10 of a mile.

  05/10/2010 1656-1747 37 2200 EF3 0 28 Pottawatomie/ Seminole/ Okfuskee 3 WSW Tecumseh - Tecumseh - 3.5 N Bearden

A significant outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected a large part of northern, central, and southern Oklahoma. Tornadoes were most numerous across central and southern Oklahoma, with significant damage occurring over many areas. Severe thunderstorms erupted by midafternoon across northern and western Oklahoma. Given the potent combination of ingredients in place, storms began to produce tornadoes quickly after initiation. Storm motions of 50 to 60 mph were common.

This tornado lasted for 37 miles and continued into Seminole and Okfuskee counties, with significant damage along almost its entire path. At times, the tornado damage path widened up to a mile. The most significant damage was located north and northeast of Earlsboro near the Pottawatomie/Seminole county border. Here a two-story home was destroyed except for a few interior walls. A pick-up truck was also lofted approximately a quarter of a mile, and a semi-trailer was lofted or rolled approximately 200 yards. Farther east along its path, seven high tension towers were downed. Significant tree damage was reported along the entire track of the tornado, some of them debarked and stripped off all their branches.

As this tornado continued through Seminole County, it knocked down 7 high tension towers were downed. Several hangers were destroyed at the Seminole Municipal Airport north of Seminole, and one small aircraft was flipped onto one of the destroyed hangers. Two mobile homes were destroyed near the airport and one resident suffered a broken arm. Significant tree damage was reported along the entire track of the tornado, some of them debarked and stripped off all their branches.

The tornado moved into southwestern Okfuskee County from Seminole County. The tornado snapped or uprooted numerous trees and blew down power poles in Okfuskee County. The estimated peak wind in this segment of the tornado's path based on this damage was 95 mph.

 

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.