Shawnee, OK Tornado History — 211 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Shawnee, OK had?
Shawnee has had 211 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 29 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Shawnee?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Shawnee was an EF0 on November 2, 2024.
When is tornado season in Shawnee?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Shawnee, with 91 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 Shawnee
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 83 total, averaging 4.2 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Shawnee 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Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete.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 Shawnee. 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 Shawnee
26 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Shawnee since 1950, across 10 events. 714 injuries have been reported across all events. 1960 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F5 on May 5, 1960, which caused 5 fatalities along a 71.8-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Shawnee
About Tornadoes in Shawnee
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.
The southern Great Plains owe their storm season to a recurring collision: humid air streaming north from the Gulf of Mexico meets dry air sliding east off the high terrain of west Texas and New Mexico. The dryline separating them often sharpens over Oklahoma while the jet stream remains strong overhead, and supercells erupting along it can turn tornadic quickly. Shawnee, set along the North Canadian River east of Oklahoma City, sits squarely inside this corridor.
That volatile setting has left deep marks near Shawnee. An F5 tore a 71.8-mile path across the region on May 5, 1960, killing 5 people and injuring 81. On May 10, 2010, an EF4 roughly a mile wide struck near the city, killing 2 people and injuring 49. Another EF4 followed on May 19, 2013, killing 2 people and injuring 10. The calendar can surprise, though: a long-track F4 crossed the area on September 14, 1957, well outside the usual spring window.
In a typical year here, the threat builds through April, crests in May, and tapers into early summer as the dryline retreats and upper-level winds relax, a rhythm shared with much of central Oklahoma. The event listings and decade-by-decade breakdown elsewhere on this page draw on live data rooted in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center's severe weather database, tracing this seasonal pulse across the decades since the 1950s.