NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Chelsea, OK

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated October 26, 2026

2 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Chelsea, Oklahoma since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Carla in 1961. Since 1950, 182 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 2
Tornadoes: 182
EF3 or stronger: 10

What the records show for Chelsea

None of the 2 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Chelsea; the strongest was Carla in 1961, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 64 miles away. The record near Chelsea begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Carla in 1961. Of the 216 Oklahoma cities on this site, 36% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Chelsea. The highest rating among the 182 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 26, 1991, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an EF3 on May 25, 2024, killed 2 people. Of the 182, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 69 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 63. The most recent tornado was on June 17, 2025. Chelsea has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 68% of the 216 Oklahoma cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 89 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 216 Oklahoma cities, 92% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Chelsea.

Compare Chelsea's storm record with another city →

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Chelsea

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Chelsea, Oklahoma, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1961	CarlaSep 13	64 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Category 4
1902	Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28	74 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Category 1

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Chelsea: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Chelsea

By decade

2020s14(1 EF3+)
2010s47
2000s8
1990s27(2 EF3+)
1980s19(1 EF3+)
1970s21(3 EF3+)
1960s19
1950s27(3 EF3+)

Strongest tornadoes near Chelsea, Oklahoma
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Sep 27, 1959	F4	24 mi	20.4 mi	1 / 1
Apr 26, 1991	F4	12 mi	4 mi	0 / 22
May 25, 2024	EF3	16 mi	23.9 mi	2 / 23
Jun 8, 1974	F3	6 mi	63.6 mi	2 / 80
Jul 2, 1992	F3	22 mi	4 mi	0 / 1
Apr 7, 1980	F3	15 mi	24.8 mi	0 / 4
Jun 8, 1974	F3	24 mi	48.9 mi	0 / 42
Sep 24, 1973	F3	20 mi	20.8 mi	0 / 14
May 9, 1959	F3	11 mi	23.4 mi	0 / 0
May 9, 1959	F3	20 mi	23.2 mi	0 / 3
Jun 27, 1983	F2	20 mi	5 mi	1 / 0
Jun 11, 1970	F2	17 mi	15.4 mi	1 / 1

The strongest 12 of 182, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Chelsea

The Storm Prediction Center has 89 hail reports within 10 miles of Chelsea since 1959, made on 62 separate days. Of these, 43 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 3, 1993. The most recent report is from April 26, 2024. May has the most reports, 26.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Chelsea

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Claremore 2 ENE, OK, 17 miles southwest of Chelsea at 588 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 47°F and 24°F. May is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 46.1 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 62 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 94 nights a year. That 46.1 inches is more than at 69 of the 82 Oklahoma stations used on this site (84%). Adair, 13 miles southeast, has its own station (Pryor, OK): 44.8 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 92°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Claremore 2 ENE, OK
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"
Jan	47	24	1.8	4
Feb	53	28	2.2	4
Mar	61	37	3.7	6
Apr	70	46	4.9	6
May	78	57	6.1	8
Jun	87	66	5.0	7
Jul	92	70	4.5	6
Aug	92	69	3.9	5
Sep	84	60	4.0	5
Oct	73	48	3.9	5
Nov	60	37	3.3	5
Dec	50	28	2.8	4
Year	70	48	46.1	66

Averages for 1991–2020 at Claremore 2 ENE, OK (588 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Oklahoma weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Chelsea

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 49 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Chelsea: 44 thunderstorm wind reports and 5 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $486,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on October 17, 2007. May has had the most flash floods, 3 of 5. Of the 216 Oklahoma cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 20 have had fewer than Chelsea.

August 23, 2002: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Chelsea — 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Law enforcement reported 65 mile an hour winds at Foyil. This wind caused damage to trees and power poles.”
May 1, 2009: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Chelsea — $200,000 damage.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Rogers County, which includes Chelsea, has been named in 31 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 8 ice storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 14, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Rogers County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $43.0 million a year, the 10th highest of 77 Oklahoma counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $21.5 million (50%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Chelsea

All Oklahoma cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Chelsea with another place →

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