Ponca City, OK Tornado History — 159 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Ponca City, OK had?
Ponca City has had 159 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 11 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Ponca City?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Ponca City was an EF0 on May 6, 2024.
When is tornado season in Ponca City?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Ponca City, with 59 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Ponca City
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 24 total, averaging 1.2 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Ponca City since December 29, 2025
These are 4 preliminary reports, not confirmed tornadoes. They have not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and are not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of Ponca City. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Ponca City
102 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Ponca City since 1950, across 3 events. 614 injuries have been reported across all events. 1955 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F5 on May 25, 1955, which caused 80 fatalities along a 56.4-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Ponca City
About Tornadoes in Ponca City
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Ponca City can drift through long quiet stretches of north-central Oklahoma weather, then face an afternoon when the atmosphere seems to come apart all at once. That contrast is rooted in geography: humid Gulf of Mexico air streams north up the Arkansas River valley, the dryline sharpens to the west, and jet-stream disturbances cross the Southern Plains, typically in spring. When those ingredients overlap, supercells can organize quickly in the open country surrounding the city.
The record documented by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center shows what such days can do. On May 26, 1955, an F5 carved a 28.4-mile path, killing 20 people and injuring 280, and a second F5 that same day ran 56.4 miles and took 80 lives. The following spring, on April 3, 1956, an F4 tracked 108.3 miles, killing 2 people and injuring 29. An F4 on March 16, 1965, ran 82.7 miles and injured 7, and another on April 26, 1991, grew 1,500 yards wide and injured 6.
Later decades kept that rhythm of lulls broken by sharp episodes. F2 tornadoes crossed the area in March and again in November of 1973. An EF1 on May 7, 2024, traced an 8-mile path nearby. The fuller chronology sits in the event list elsewhere on this page; the lesson of the quiet years is that they end.