1,268 first-hand accounts of flood events in Oklahoma, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of the 7th along a stationary frontal boundary that extended across northeastern and central Oklahoma. These storms moved southeast across northeastern Oklahoma during the afternoon and early evening hours.
Read the full account →Severe thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma and southern Kansas along a slow-moving cold front during the afternoon hours of May 31st. Very unstable air ahead of the cold front, combined with strong wind shear, resulted in storms quickly evolving into supercells.
Read the full account →A prolonged area of southwest flow aloft developed over much of Oklahoma during the period from the 10th through the 12th. Numerous upper level disturbances moving through the flow, as well as a very moist air mass allowed for several rounds of showers and thunderstorms to…
Read the full account →A tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 31st. A stalled front and deeply mixed dryline served as a focus for thunderstorm development. The front/dryline triple point was where the most intense supercells initiated.
Read the full account →A line of storms (some of them strong) formed along a cold front as it swept down into the southern plains through the evening of the 6th. A few areas received prolonged heavy rain, resulting in flash flooding in parts of northwest Oklahoma.
Read the full account →A large, slow-moving area of rain and embedded thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front that was moving through eastern Oklahoma on the 13th. Moisture was plentiful over the region ahead of a slow-moving upper level storm system that was moving into West Texas.
Read the full account →A tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 31st. A stalled front and deeply mixed dryline served as a focus for thunderstorm development. The front/dryline triple point was where the most intense supercells initiated.
Read the full account →Discrete thunderstorms and a squall line moved across the Oklahoma Panhandle during the evening and overnight hours of the 7th. These severe storms not only had ample instability to fuel them but also a marginally above average moist atmosphere.
Read the full account →A deep upper level low pressure system across northern Mexico into the Big Bend area of west Texas moved very slowly towards the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley during the afternoon of March 18th into the overnight hours.
Read the full account →Five to 7 inches of rain fell across portions of central Oklahoma from the 24th through the 26th. Local amounts of rainfall exceeded 10 inches from near Allen in Pontotoc County northeast to near Calvin in Hughes County.
Read the full account →Tropical Storm Erin, the fifth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season, developed quickly over the northeast Gulf of Mexico on the 15th, before moving onshore during the morning hours of the 16th.
Read the full account →The Neosho River at Commerce rose above its flood stage of 15 feet at noon CDT on April 25. The river crested at 20.2 feet at 100 AM CDT on April 28 before falling back below flood stage at 200 PM CDT on April 30.Flash flooding along Tar Creek combined with mainstem river…
Read the full account →A slow-moving low pressure trough moved from the Rockies into the Plains during the 9th and 10th. Several disturbances rotating through this trough translated across the Southern Plains during this period.
Read the full account →A slow-moving upper level trough of low pressure moved from the Rockies into the Plains on the 23rd and 24th. Very moist and slightly unstable air was in place across the Southern Plains ahead of this system.
Read the full account →Additional heay rain fell across portions of southern Oklahoma, resulting in more flooding. Rainfall amounts averaged 2 to 4 inches from near Lawton and Walters in southwest Oklahoma to near Ardmore in south-central Oklahoma. Local amounts approached 6 inches.
Read the full account →A major severe weather outbreak occurred across western and central Oklahoma from the afternoon of the 4th through the early morning of the 5th, resulting in 19 tornadoes, straight-line wind damage, hail as large as baseballs, and significant flooding across portions of Lincoln…
Read the full account →Tropical Storm Erin, the fifth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season, developed quickly over the northeast Gulf of Mexico on the 15th, before moving onshore during the morning hours of the 16th.
Read the full account →The Bird Creek at Avant rose above its flood stage of 16 feet at 1000 AM CDT on April 25. The river crested at 26.1 feet at 400 PM CDT on April 25 before falling back below flood stage at 200 AM CDT on April 26.The Bird Creek at Sperry rose above its flood stage of 21 feet at…
Read the full account →Summary of flooding events for October 4-5 1998:What started out as Oklahoma's worst-ever October tornado outbreak turned into a widespread and serious flash flood event when a steady train of supercell thunderstorms moving across northeast Oklahoma on the evening of October 4…
Read the full account →A weak cold front and an outflow boundary provided the focus for slow moving and training thunderstorms which produced an average of 2 to 5 inches of rain across parts of northern Tulsa, Rogers, Mayes, Delaware, northern Cherokee and northern Adair Counties during the morning of…
Read the full account →Summary of events of April 26, 1998:Early morning thunderstorms in western Oklahoma produced hail as large as quarters. By early afternoon, the storms had formed a squall line that moved across central and eastern sections of the state during the afternoon and evening hours.
Read the full account →Moderate northwest flow aloft existed over Oklahoma, with a diffuse frontal boundary extending west-east across the center of the state. Elevated thunderstorms developed in the early morning before sunrise, primarily near the I-35 corridor, and trained over a region roughly…
Read the full account →Summary of events for May 11 1999:Numerous severe thunderstorms formed along a slow-moving north-south cold front across eastern Oklahoma on the afternoon and evening of May 11.
Read the full account →Summary of flash flooding on April 26 1999:Following three to five inches of rain on April 25, a broad band of rain and thunderstorms shifted across all of eastern Oklahoma on the morning of April 26 in advance of a closed upper-level low.
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