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Elmer, Oklahoma

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Altus South census division. It lies in ZIP code area 73539. The Survey maps it on the Elmer quadrangle. 65 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,309 feet above sea level.

Elmer within Jackson County

Population over time

2 figures

Elmer fell from 96 to 65 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.

YearPeople Change
201096
202065-31 (-32%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

2 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Elmer between 2008 and 2012, burning about 2,135 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
25 May 2012Equipment and vehicle use35 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWILSON ( M A TO ODELL F D )
25 February 2008Debris and open burning2,100 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceROUND TIMBER FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jackson County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Elmer: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Elmer Dredge & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pitts Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Jackson County

Storms near this place

35 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elmer in 35 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 20 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2025Thunderstorm WindElmer$15,000A social media image shows a section of a metal and wood barn blown off. The location is approximate, and the event time is estimated from radar observations.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindElmer$7,000Roof of one residence damaged. Report relayed by KWTV.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindElmer$100Tree limbs 2 inches in diameter were broken.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindElmer$10no account filed
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Elmer-A storm chaser took video of a long-lived landspout near Elmer. This landspout lasted for at least ten minutes and may have persisted for more than 20 minutes. No damage was reported and the location of this tornado is estimated.
September 2023HailElmer-MPing report.
December 2016Thunderstorm WindElmer-Winds uprooted trees.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindElmer-Shed was destroyed.
May 2015Tornado (EF3)Elmer-The tornado moved back into Jackson County from Wilbarger County Texas and moved across the southeast section of the county. Damage to trees, metal buildings and outbuildings were observed along US Highway 283 to the southeast of Elmer. Damage to homes and trees continued to be observed as the tornado moved east-northeast. The most significant damage was observed 3 to 4 miles east of Elmer (DI 1, DOD 8; DI 2, DOD 6; DI 21, DOD 7; DI 27, DOD 5). The tornadic motion seen on videos and the radar presentation indicate that this likely was a violent tornado through southeast Jackson County, although only EF3 damage was observed as the tornado moved through this relatively sparsely populated area. KFDR radar measured 115 knot gate-to-gate rotational velocity when the tornado was east of Elmer. The tornado continued east-northeast moving into Tillman County about 4 miles west of Tipton.
May 2015HailElmer-No damage was reported.
May 2015Tornado (EF0)Elmer-This tornado moved into Oklahoma from Wilbarger County Texas and continued to expand as it moved east-northeast across southern Jackson County. Despite the expansion of the tornado to an estimated 1000 yards wide, no significant damage is known to have occurred in this portion of Jackson County. The tornado crossed the Red River back into Wilbarger County before entering Jackson County again at 4:43 pm CST.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindElmer-No damage was reported with the wind gust.
October 2021HailElmer-no account filed
March 2017HailElmer-no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindElmer-no account filed
May 2016Thunderstorm WindElmer-no account filed
April 2013HailElmer-no account filed
May 2011HailElmer-no account filed
June 2009HailElmer-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindElmer-no account filed
April 2003HailElmer-no account filed
February 2000HailElmer-no account filed
February 2000Thunderstorm WindElmer-no account filed
February 2000HailElmer-no account filed
February 2000HailElmer-no account filed
April 1999HailElmer-no account filed
June 1999HailElmer-no account filed
June 1999HailElmer-no account filed
May 1997HailElmer-no account filed
May 1997HailElmer-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindElmer-no account filed
April 1994HailElmer-no account filed
April 1993HailElmer-no account filed
April 1993HailElmer-no account filed
May 1993HailElmer-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jackson County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Hess4.3 miles10
Olustee6.0 miles9
Humphreys7.9 miles9
Marty9.0 miles8
Creata10.7 miles8
Creta10.8 miles8
Altus10.9 miles9
Hightower11.5 miles9

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 ElmerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1996819The 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 1092593. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.