NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ponca City, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Ponca City, Oklahoma since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 156 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 156
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
102 deaths in all
What the records show for Ponca City
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Ponca City; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 57 miles away. Of the 216 Oklahoma cities on this site, 83% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Ponca City. The highest rating among the 156 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 25, 1955, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an F5 on May 25, 1955, killed 80 people. Of the 156, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 32 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 56. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2024. Of the 216 Oklahoma cities, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ponca City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 183 times since 1955, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Ponca City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 60% of the 216 Oklahoma cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ponca City
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 10 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Ponca City: 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 Ponca City
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s13
- 2000s12(1 EF3+)
- 1990s32(2 EF3+)
- 1980s15
- 1970s20
- 1960s29(1 EF3+)
- 1950s28(5 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 1955 | F5 | 13 mi | 56.4 mi | 80 / 273 |
| May 25, 1955 | F5 | 12 mi | 28.4 mi | 20 / 280 |
| Apr 2, 1956 | F4 | 9 mi | 108.3 mi | 2 / 29 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F4 | 10 mi | 66 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 8, 2003 | F3 | 21 mi | 45 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1993 | F3 | 9 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 1961 | F3 | 14 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 17, 1958 | F3 | 15 mi | 39.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 1955 | F3 | 25 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F2 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 27, 1983 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 1979 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 156, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ponca City
The Storm Prediction Center has 183 hail reports within 10 miles of Ponca City since 1955, made on 119 separate days. Of these, 122 were 1 inch across or larger, and 14 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on April 14, 1998. The most recent report is from August 10, 2025. April has the most reports, 54.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ponca City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ponca City Municipal Airport, OK, 3 miles northwest of Ponca City at 1,000 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 47°F and 25°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 33.7 inches over 49 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 73 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 89 nights a year. That 33.7 inches is more than at 24 of the 82 Oklahoma stations used on this site (29%). Newkirk, 14 miles north, has its own station (Newkirk 5NE, OK): 39.3 inches a year, 5.6 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 25 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Feb | 52 | 28 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Mar | 62 | 37 | 2.2 | 4 |
| Apr | 71 | 46 | 3.8 | 5 |
| May | 79 | 57 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Jun | 88 | 67 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Jul | 93 | 71 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Aug | 92 | 70 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Sep | 84 | 61 | 2.7 | 4 |
| Oct | 73 | 48 | 3.1 | 4 |
| Nov | 60 | 36 | 1.7 | 3 |
| Dec | 49 | 27 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Year | 71 | 48 | 33.7 | 49 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ponca City Municipal Airport, OK (1,000 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Ponca City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 134 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ponca City: 112 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 2 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $1.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 114 mph, on June 13, 1998. Of the 216 Oklahoma cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 120 have had fewer than Ponca City.
June 4, 2005: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Ponca City — 5 injured, $75,000 damage.
NWS: “Strong thunderstorm wind destroyed a mobile home. Five people were injured inside the mobile home when the storm hit.”
March 10, 2010: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Ponca City — 1 injured.
NWS: “A small metal shed was destroyed by strong winds. The debris from the building struck an individual, injuring her.”
August 17, 2009: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Ponca City — $900,000 damage.
NWS: “Widespread wind damage was reported over the southeast parts of Ponca City. The damage area was from S.”
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
Flood insurance policyholders in Ponca City's 2 ZIP codes have filed 159 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1986: 12 claims (8% of all) and $84,000. The year with the most claims was 2002, with 35. 12% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 92 Oklahoma cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 75 have fewer than Ponca City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1986 | 12 | $84,000 |
Kay County, which includes Ponca City, has been named in 36 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 severe storms, 7 ice storms, 6 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on April 30, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kay County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $33.6 million a year, the 16th highest of 77 Oklahoma counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.4 million (31%), 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).
Ponca City in the notable storm records: The May 25, 1955 F5 Tornado in Oklahoma, near Arkansas City, KS
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Ponca City
- Newkirk, OK14 mi
- Blackwell, OK14 mi
- Tonkawa, OK15 mi
- Arkansas City, KS25 mi
- Pawnee, OK29 mi
- Perry, OK30 mi
- Winfield, KS38 mi
- Stillwater, OK40 mi
- Pawhuska, OK41 mi
- Hominy, OK43 mi
- Wellington, KS43 mi
- Yale, OK46 mi
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