Nowata County, Oklahoma: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Nowata County, Oklahoma has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 40.8 out of 100, higher than about 40% of US counties, with strong winds, ice storms and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $8.3 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included Nowata County since 1986, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4950-OK (Severe Storm and Straight-Line Winds, declared 7 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 45 tornadoes touching Nowata County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Oklahoma All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 9,311 Buildings worth $1.7 billion Area 587 sq mi Risk rank in Oklahoma 51 of 77 FIPS 40105
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 94.0 | $1.7 million | about 6.7 a year | 255 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 93.7 | $896,272 | about once a year | 71 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 67.9 | $296,728 | about 35 a year | 973 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 64.2 | $1.1 million | about 2 a year | 38 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 64.1 | $1.3 million | about once every 1.8 years | 34 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 63.9 | $451,995 | about 24 a year | 314 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 54.5 | $39,527 | about once every 585 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 39.1 | $396 | about once every 9.6 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 37.9 | $27,322 | about 9.4 a year | 178 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 34.0 | $67,435 | about once every 813 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 29.0 | $2.2 million | about 1.8 a year | 51 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 28.9 | $67,619 | about 55 a year | 59,506 strikes |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 25.8 | $6,381 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Hail | Very Low | 24.6 | $58,352 | about 8.2 a year | 310 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 30
Most common: Severe Storm 15, Severe Ice Storm 8, Tornado 3, Fire 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 2 | Tornado, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 11 | Severe Ice Storm ×5, Severe Storm ×4, Fire, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 12 | Severe Storm ×9, Fire, Tornado, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2020s | 4 | Severe Ice Storm ×2, Severe Storm, Tornado |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Nowata County
- Severe Winter Storms (2021, DR-4587-OK): 77 Oklahoma counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2021, EM-3555-OK): 77 Oklahoma counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2011, EM-3316-OK): 77 Oklahoma counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Oklahoma also had 24 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 45
| Tornadoes touching the county | 45 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×2 |
| Peak month | May (13) |
| Deadliest | 23 May 1981, F2, 15.2 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Longest path | 26 May 1996, F2, 30 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 4 Nov 2024, EF1, 9.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 13 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 15 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 8 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 6 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Nowata County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nowata County (this page) | — | Very Low | 40.8 | Strong wind |
| Washington County | 27 km | Relatively Low | 76.1 | Ice storm |
| Craig County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 55.5 | Ice storm |
| Montgomery County, KS | 45 km | Relatively Low | 73.4 | Tornado |
| Rogers County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 80.1 | Ice storm |
| Labette County, KS | 52 km | Relatively Low | 66.2 | Ice storm |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Oklahoma, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 89.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 19.6 |
| Community risk factor | 1.61 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $8.3 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Nowata County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Oklahoma · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Drought: Drought monitor for Oklahoma
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. 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).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. 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).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Nowata County
What natural disasters is Nowata County, Oklahoma most at risk from?
Nowata County, Oklahoma has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 40.8 out of 100, higher than about 40% of US counties, with strong winds, ice storms and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $8.3 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Nowata County had?
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included Nowata County since 1986, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4950-OK (Severe Storm and Straight-Line Winds, declared 7 October 2026). Another 24 Oklahoma declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Nowata County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 45 tornadoes touching Nowata County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 23 May 1981, F2, 15.2 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.