The Tulsa Data This Site Publishes
Most restoration pages quote statistics without saying where they came from. This page lists the Tulsa figures used across the site, names the publisher of each, and dates the retrieval. For 31 winters of freeze records and FEMA flood claims by ZIP, see the freeze and flood statistics page.
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When does Tulsa's freeze risk actually begin?
NWS Tulsa freeze climatology gives a median first date of 32 degrees Fahrenheit of November 6. One year in ten sees it by October 25, and nine in ten by November 19. The office's climatological overview puts the last freeze in late March.
Those dates bracket the window in which an unprotected hose bib or an uninsulated line in an exterior wall becomes a real risk. Late October is not early for Tulsa; it is the tenth percentile.
The same overview puts the growing season at 216 days and the heaviest snow in January and early March, so burst pipes here follow short cold snaps.
How much rain does Tulsa get, and how variable is it?
The NWS Tulsa rainfall record covers 138 years, January 1888 through December 2025. The wettest calendar year was 1973 at 69.88 inches and the driest 1956 at 23.24 inches. That spread of 46.64 inches is the most important fact about Tulsa precipitation.
Recent years sit high in the ranking: 2015 third at 61.79 inches, 2019 fourth at 59.55 inches, 2025 twelfth at 54.51 inches. Three of the twelve wettest years in a 138-year record fell in the last decade.
Averaging the NWS monthly totals across 1991 to 2020 gives 40.87 inches a year, May wettest at 5.65 inches. Slab-home implications sit on the main page.
Which figures here are national rather than Tulsa-specific?
Three kinds of number appear across this site and they are not equivalent. Climate, utility, permit and population figures are Tulsa-specific. The mold growth window and water category definitions are national standards. Cost ranges from consumer guides are national averages, not local quotes.
- Tulsa-specific: NWS Tulsa climatology, City of Tulsa water, sewer and permit contacts, Census figures for Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Owasso.
- National standards: EPA guidance recommending that water-damaged items and areas be dried within 24 to 48 hours to help prevent mold, its roughly 10 square foot threshold for do-it-yourself cleanup, and the IICRC S500 categories.
- National averages: published cost guides, used on the cost page as ranges rather than prices.
Which Tulsa numbers should a homeowner keep to hand?
The City of Tulsa Water and Sewer Department publishes two around-the-clock reporting lines: 918-596-9488 for waterline breaks, leaks and outages, and 918-586-6999 for sewer overflows. Customer Care is reached by dialing 311 inside the city, or 918-596-2100 from outside it.
The city's Development Services permit center works from 175 East 2nd Street, on 918-596-9456, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.
The suburbs run their own arrangements, and both are worth checking before an emergency: see the Broken Arrow contacts and the Owasso utility guide.
How were these figures checked?
Each was read directly from the publishing body's own page on the date shown, not from an aggregator. Where a figure could not be confirmed at source it was left out rather than estimated. The monthly averages below are calculated from published National Weather Service totals.
Some questions have no row here, because the number was not publicly verifiable when written. Figures also move: phone numbers, office hours and population estimates all change, so the retrieval date tells you how stale a line may be.
The wider approach to sourcing is described in the methodology note.
Sources for this page: National Weather Service Tulsa office for rainfall and freeze records; City of Tulsa for utility and permit contacts; U.S. Census Bureau for housing statistics. National figures are labeled as national in the tables above.
Cite this page and reuse it
This data page and its Tulsa figures are offered for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, so a newsroom, researcher or homeowner may quote a row, republish an excerpt or cite it, provided the reuse names the source and links back to this page.
Walker, A. (2026). The Tulsa data this site publishes. Rapid Water Damage Tulsa, BetterAds Solutions LLC. https://rapidwaterdamagetulsa.com/proof/ (retrieved 2026-09-23).
This proof page is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Reuse with a link back to https://rapidwaterdamagetulsa.com/proof/ is welcomed.
| Month | Rainfall (inches) | Dominant risk |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1.61 | Burst pipes; heaviest snow |
| February | 1.61 | Burst pipes |
| March | 3.10 | Late freeze |
| April | 4.37 | Storm season |
| May | 5.65 | Wettest month |
| June | 4.66 | Short downpours |
| July | 3.78 | Appliance failures |
| August | 3.38 | Appliance failures |
| September | 3.85 | Autumn rain peak |
| October | 3.77 | Earliest freezes |
| November | 2.66 | First freeze |
| December | 2.43 | Burst pipes |
Source: NWS Tulsa monthly rainfall records and freeze climatology, retrieved 2026-09-07
| Figure | Value | Source | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median first 32F date | November 6 | NWS Tulsa freeze climatology | 2026-09-07 |
| Wettest year | 69.88 inches, 1973 | NWS Tulsa rainfall ranking | 2026-09-07 |
| Driest year | 23.24 inches, 1956 | NWS Tulsa rainfall ranking | 2026-09-07 |
| Average annual rainfall | 40.87 inches | Computed from NWS records | 2026-09-07 |
| Waterline break line | 918-596-9488 | Tulsa Water and Sewer | 2026-09-07 |
| Sewer overflow line | 918-586-6999 | Tulsa Water and Sewer | 2026-09-07 |
| Permit center | 918-596-9456 | Tulsa Development Services | 2026-09-07 |
| Insurance complaint line | 1-800-522-0071 | Oklahoma Insurance Department | 2026-09-07 |
Source: Publisher pages read directly on the dates shown
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