Watson, Oklahoma
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the North McCurtain census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74963. It stands on Mud Lick Creek. The Survey maps it on the Watson quadrangle. It stands 837 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 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.
- 1902 USGS Lukfata quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Mcalester quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Smithville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS McAlester quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS McAlester quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Watson quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS De Queen quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
573 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 573 fires within 5 miles of Watson between 1992 and 2020, burning about 9,503 acres in total. 18 started naturally. 287 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 287 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 |
| Debris and open burning | 40 |
| Natural | 18 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Smoking | 9 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10240 |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 7.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10239 |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10237 |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10238 |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10236 |
| 6 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 10230 |
| 6 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Talihina Agency | SE477 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
14 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watson in 14 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 7 hail, 3 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Watson | $40,000 | State Highway 4 was closed due to the road and a culvert being washed out. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Watson | - | Hail up to quarter size covered the ground in the Cottage community east of Smithville. |
| March 2024 | Hail | Watson | - | Tennis ball size hail reported in Watson, causing damage to vehicles. |
| February 2023 | Flood | Watson | - | Dry Creek out of its banks with Mountain Fork River near bank full north of Watson. A couple of county roads near and north of Watson were flooded. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Watson | - | Half dollar size hail damaged vehicles north of Watson near the Mountain Fork River. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | Watson | - | Numerous county roads were flooded in and near the Watson community. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watson | - | Trees were downed between Smithville and Watson, Oklahoma. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watson | - | Several trees were downed in extreme northeast McCurtain County Oklahoma near the community of Watson. |
| June 1999 | Flash Flood | Watson | - | Highway 4 underwater |
| December 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watson | - | Numerous trees down. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Watson | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Watson | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Watson | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Watson | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beachton | 3.7 miles | 16 | |
| Plunketville | 4.0 miles | 16 | |
| Nani-chito | 4.9 miles | 16 | |
| Smithville | 5.0 miles | 16 | |
| Sherwood | 13.8 miles | 19 | |
| Bethel | 15.8 miles | 19 | |
| Mount Herman | 16.4 miles | 19 | |
| Battiest | 19.7 miles | 19 |
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 Watson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7974794 | 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 1099429. 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.








