Sentinel, Oklahoma
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Southwest Washita census division. It lies in ZIP code area 73664. The Survey maps it on the Sentinel quadrangle. 763 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,640 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresSentinel fell from 901 to 763 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 | 901 | |
| 2020 | 763 | -138 (-15%) |
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
- 1957 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Hobart quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Sentinel quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Elk City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sentinel: 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentinel South-1 | Copper | Occurrence | 1963 |
Storms near this place
48 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sentinel in 48 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 25 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $30,000 | Relayed images showing wind damage in/near the community of Sentinel. The most significant damage was to a silo, which was partially crushed. Multiple structures had varying degrees of roof damage, including a few that had portions removed. Time is radar estimated. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $30,000 | Strong winds caused damage in and around Sentinel. Six large overhead garage doors were damaged. One of these doors was blown in at the Technology Education Building of the Sentinel School. The northwest exterior wall of this building was also separated from the roof. Three of the six overhead doors were damage at the new Area Activity Center. The final door was on a barn one mile southeast of town. The doors at the Combs Disposal Co. were also damaged. The winds then scattered Polycarts across the area. Fifteen power poles were also snapped southeast of town. |
| January 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $25,000 | At least one barn was destroyed and several power poles were blown down. Damages estimated. |
| August 2006 | Lightning | Sentinel | $15,000 | Lightning caused some structural damage to a house in Sentinel. A small fire also caused some damage. |
| March 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Sentinel | $3,500 | This tornado formed 5 miles east of Sentinel and was captured on video by an Oklahoma City television storm chaser as it tracked eastward for 2 miles before dissipating. Seven power poles were downed by this tornado on State Route 55. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $3,000 | Power lines were reported down. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | $2,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds destroyed a large shed and downed power poles. |
| November 2024 | Tornado (EFU) | Sentinel | - | A Tornado Debris Signature (TDS) was observed developing in northwestern Kiowa County before moving north into Washita County. The presence of the TDS indicates that at least tree damage likely occurred despite the lack of any specific damage reports. The path is estimated, but the tornado likely moved about one-half mile north into Washita County before dissipating. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Social media image showing a large tree blown down. Time is radar estimated. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Sentinel | - | Four to 8 inches of water running across the road between Sentinel and Rocky. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Sentinel | - | SH 55 between Sentinel and Rocky was closed due to water on roadway. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | The wind gust was measured at the Retrop mesonet site. |
| March 2008 | Hail | Sentinel | - | The hail was mostly up to golfball size, but a few stones measured three to three and a half inches. |
| March 2008 | Hail | Sentinel | - | The hail covered the ground. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind gust was measured by the Retrop Oklahoma mesonet station. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind gust was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet 2 miles south of Retrop. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| April 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| April 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| April 1999 | Hail | Sentinel | - | Hail was reported to be 3 to 4 inches deep. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| March 2008 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| March 2008 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| March 2004 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Sentinel | - | no account filed |
| March 1993 | Hail | Sentinel | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky | 6.1 miles | 9 | |
| Port | 7.7 miles | 9 | |
| Dill City | 8.5 miles | 11 | |
| Old Retrop | 8.9 miles | 9 | |
| Retrop | 9.8 miles | 9 | |
| Rainy (historical) | 11.7 miles | 9 | |
| Burns Flat | 13.2 miles | 11 | |
| Cordell | 13.5 miles | 9 |
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 Sentinel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2328178 | 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 1097916. 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.
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.




