Bessie, Oklahoma
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Northwest Washita census division. It lies in ZIP code area 73622. The Survey maps it on the Bessie quadrangle. 182 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,558 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBessie grew from 181 to 182 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 181 | |
| 2020 | 182 | +1 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1955 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Cordell quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Bessie quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Anadarko quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Bessie between 2005 and 2011, burning about 7 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 June 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Concho Field Office | WALK |
| 16 April 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Concho Field Office | ESLINGER |
| 26 October 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Concho Field Office | OK STATE |
| 14 January 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kickapoo Field Office | TIRE CREEK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 82 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bessie in 82 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 65 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | $100,000 | A wind gust, possibly from a wet microburst, caused some damage in Bessie. Three empty grain cars of a train were toppled onto their side. There was also some minor roof damage and downed trees. The Bessie Fire Department also sustained some roof damage. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | $35,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | $25,000 | Strong winds caused an area of damage along Highway 183, just 1.5 miles south of the Custer County line. A barn was destroyed, and a commercial building lost its roof. Several trees were also downed. |
| March 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | $20,000 | Damage was reported to carports and a barn. Sections of wood and brick fences were damaged, as well as power lines downed. Roof damage also occurred to one house. | |
| June 2007 | Hail | Bessie | $2,000 | A wheat field was totally destroyed by the hail. Monetary damages were estimated. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Bessie (BESS) Mesonet observation. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Bessie (BESS) Mesonet observation. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Bessie (BESS) Mesonet observation. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Bessie (BESS) Mesonet observation. |
| October 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | No damage was reported. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Mesonet site at Bessie recorded a gust to 72 mph at 2:45pm LST. Also gusted to 69 and 60 mph at 2:50pm and 2:55pm LST, respectively. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Mesonet site at Bessie recorded a gust to 66 mph. Also recorded gusts to 57 mph and 60 mph at the prior (6:40 pm) and following (6:50 pm) observations, respectively. |
| November 2011 | Hail | Bessie | - | The wind gusts were also estimated at 60 mph. |
| May 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Bessie | - | Spotters and emergency management personnel observed a tornado that developed over north-central Washita county and moved northeast into Custer county. No damage was reported in Washita county. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Another gust to 63 mph was measured at 2205 CDT. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Bessie | - | Several county roads were closed due to high water. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| March 2004 | Funnel Cloud | Bessie | - | A well-defined funnel cloud was observed by several storm chasers. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma Mesonet. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by Oklahoma mesonet. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by Oklahoma mesonet. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Wind was measured by Oklahoma mesonet. |
| September 2001 | Hail | Bessie | - | Hail was reported on Highway 183. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | Measured by Oklahoma Mesonet. |
| May 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site |
| June 1994 | Hail | Bessie | - | Thunderstorms developed in western Oklahoma during the early morning hours on the 10th and produced hail up to golf ball-size and damaging winds. Thunderstorm winds uprooted a two-foot-diameter tree in Clinton and downed tree limbs 12 miles south-southwest of Erick. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| December 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Bessie | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessie | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braithwaite | 3.8 miles | 11 | |
| Cordell | 6.6 miles | 9 | |
| Burns Flat | 10.0 miles | 11 | |
| Foss | 10.7 miles | 11 | |
| Dill City | 10.8 miles | 11 | |
| Corn | 10.9 miles | 9 | |
| Cloud Chief | 12.0 miles | 9 | |
| Canute | 15.6 miles | 8 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Bessie | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2614048 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1090021. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




