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Welch, Oklahoma

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the North Craig census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74369. The Survey maps it on the Welch South quadrangle. 622 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 820 feet above sea level.

Welch within Craig County

Population over time

2 figures

Welch grew from 619 to 622 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
2010619
2020622+3 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 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

4 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Welch between 2010 and 2012, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Debris and open burning2
Other causes1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
27 July 2011Debris and open burningunder an acreCherokee Nation TribeJACKPOT
7 February 2012Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresOklahoma Division of Forestry30062
9 December 2010Other causes1.5 acresCherokee Nation TribeCOOKED TURKEY
1 January 2011Debris and open burning26 acresCherokee Nation TribeBEZHIG ISHKODE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Craig County

Storms near this place

60 of 83 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Welch in 83 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 40 thunderstorm wind, 31 hail, 8 flash flood, 4 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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
May 2012Tornado (EF2)Welch1 hurt, $250,000A tornado tore the roof off of a permanent home, shifted another permanent home off its foundation and blew out an exterior wall, turned over an outbuilding, rolled two horse trailers, destroyed a 40' by 60' steel-framed barn, and snapped or uprooted a number of hardwood trees. Maximum estimated wind in the tornado based on this damage was 110 to 120 mph.
May 2008Tornado (EF2)Welch$600,000A tornado developed just south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border north-northwest of Welch. It moved rapidly east across northeastern Craig County, intensifying and widening as it moved into Ottawa County. In Craig County, the tornado destroyed several mobile homes, severely damaged about a dozen other homes, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and blew down power poles and power lines.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindWelch$350,000Strong thunderstorm wind severely damaged the school gymnasium, damaged the roofs of homes, destroyed outbuildings, and blew down trees.
May 2025HailWelch$50,000Baseball size hail damaged homes and vehicles.
April 2006Tornado (F0)Welch$20,000A tornado severely damaged the roof of a mobile home, snapped trees, and took down power lines in extreme northern Craig County. The tornado continued into southeastern Labette County Kansas, where it produced F1 damage. See Storm Data for Kansas, Southeast for details regarding the Labette County segment of this tornado.
May 2020HailWelch$15,000Golf ball size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
May 2020HailWelch$15,000Golf ball size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindWelch$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several power poles.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindWelch$5,000A large tree was blown down onto a car.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindWelch$5,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down a tree and damaged a barn.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindWelch$2,000no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWelch$1,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a tree and power lines.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindWelch$1,000Thunderstorms winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew large trees limbs down onto power lines.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindWelch$500no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindWelch$100Thunderstorms wind blew down large tree limbs.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindWelch$10060 mile an hour thunderstorm winds blew down several tree limbs.
October 1998Thunderstorm WindWelch$100Large tree limbs were blown down.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindWelch$100no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindWelch$100no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindWelch$100no account filed
August 2018Flash FloodWelch-Several county roads were flooded and closed.
March 2016Thunderstorm WindWelch-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large tree limbs.
March 2016Thunderstorm WindWelch-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large tree limbs.
June 2015Flash FloodWelch-Flood water covered portions of Highway 2 and threatened several homes.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindWelch-A trained storm spotter measured thunderstorm wind gusts of 72 mph on Highway 59, south of Kansas/Oklahoma state line.
September 2014Tornado (EF0)Welch-A brief tornado was reported over open country. No known damage occurred with this tornado.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindWelch-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several large tree limbs.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindWelch-A tree was uprooted and large branches were snapped by strong thunderstorm wind.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindWelch-Strong thunderstorm wind snapped trees.
May 2011Flash FloodWelch-Highway 10 east of Welch was closed due to water over the roadway in several locations.
November 2010Flash FloodWelch-Heavy rain caused several roads in and around Welch to become flooded.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs at Hollow.
September 2009Flash FloodWelch-Heavy rain caused Big Cabin Creek to overflow its banks. The creek flowed over a road making it impasssable.
May 2009Flash FloodWelch-Heavy rain caused numerous streets to be flooded in and around Welch.
May 2009Flash FloodWelch-Heavy rain caused Cabin Creek to overflow.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down a tree and several large tree limbs.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down large trees.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down a few trees.
December 2002Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down several large tree limbs.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew several large tree limbs down.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindWelch-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew a tree down.
June 2000Flash FloodWelch-Heavy rains caused Clear Creek to come out of its banks flooding several rural roads near Hollow.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindWelch-60 mph gust reported by NWS Cooperative Observer in the community of Hollow
June 1995HailWelch-Severe thunderstorms moved across northeast Oklahoma during the late evening of June 4th and very early morning of June 5th. Strong thunderstorm winds downed trees in Collinsville and in Inola, and several large tree limbs were blown down by strong winds in Okemah. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 60 mph in Bristow, four miles east of Beggs, four miles northeast of Sapulpa, in Owasso, and one mile north of Wagoner, and strong winds blew signs down near the intersection of 31st Street South and Yale Avenue in the city of Tulsa. Quarter-size hail fell just north of Winchester and three miles east of Welch, and dime- to quarter-size hail fell one mile north of Winchester. Dime-size hail also fell four miles northeast of Sapulpa, at Owasso, and one mile south of Eufaula.
February 1995HailWelch-A severe thunderstorm produced dime-size hail seven miles north of Welch.
July 2020HailWelch-no account filed
August 2018HailWelch-no account filed
March 2011HailWelch-no account filed
May 2011HailWelch-no account filed
May 2011HailWelch-no account filed
August 2009HailWelch-no account filed
May 2009HailWelch-no account filed
May 2009HailWelch-no account filed
September 2009HailWelch-no account filed
March 2006HailWelch-no account filed
September 2006HailWelch-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindWelch-no account filed
May 2003HailWelch-no account filed
December 2002HailWelch-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Craig 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
Bluejacket5.3 miles14
Pyramid Corners5.6 miles14
Rogers6.2 miles15
Cocklebur Flat6.2 miles14
Hollow9.3 miles14
Banzet9.5 miles14
Kelso11.6 miles14
Todd14.5 miles14

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 WelchAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1942878The 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 1099471. 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.