Franklin

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Warren County, the county that contains Franklin.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Warren County, the county that contains Franklin.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Warren County, the county that contains Franklin.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Warren$23.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. A gust to 78 mph was measured in Lebanon. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines, to significant crop losses and structural damage. One person suffered a spinal injury in Springboro when a branch fell on him.

2. Sep 27, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense microburst caused extensive damage to homes and businesses across the southern part of the county. Several buildings sustained major damage along Mason-Montgomery Road. Up to fifty windows were blown out at Kings Junior High School. Portions of the roof were damaged and a wall was blown in at the junior high school as well. Numerous buses near the junior high school were severely damaged by flying debris and a nearby shed was destroyed. The fifty foot marquee at Kings Island Amusement Park was blown down and completely destroyed. 36 homes suffered roof damage in Kings Mills. In South Lebanon, a small church and 75 homes sustained damage, including five that were…

3. Apr 9, 1999Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed from Hamilton county through southeast Deerfield Township and across the Little Miami River. The tornado damaged several houses, hundreds of mature trees, along with garages and barns.

4. Apr 19, 2002Hail$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive hail damage to homes, cars and businesses occurred across the southern part of the county from Twenty Mile Stand, through Maineville to near Morrow and Pleasant Plain.

5. Apr 9, 1999Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in eastern Hamilton Township causing heavy damage to a farmstead. The roof of the house and an extension to a barn were destroyed. Further down the path, a house was skewed from its foundation.

6. Apr 16, 1998Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rainfall caused county creeks and streams to flood across roads. A section of State Route 350 was washed out by the high water. One hundred fifty people were evacuated from the banks of Turtle Creek while a total of 210 were evacuated across the county. Seventy homes received minor damage and 5 had major damage.

7. Jan 21, 2013Winter Weather, Warren$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow squalls in the region caused whiteout conditions, resulting in a 52 car pileup on I-75 between Cincinnati and Dayton. The accident occurred between the Middletown and Monroe exits and injured 10 people.

8. Jun 1, 1997Flood, Warren$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A closed upper low pressure system remained across the Ohio valley from late on May 31st until June 2nd and dropped very heavy rainfall across central and southern Ohio. Several rivers rose out of their banks as a result of the heavy rainfall. The Scioto River flooded from Columbus to the Ohio river. At Frank Road in Columbus, the river crested at 24.19 feet around noon est on the 2nd. At Circleville, the river crested at 20.91 feet around 1100 am est on the 4th. Flood stage is 14.0 feet. At Chillicothe, the river crested at 16.25 feet around midnight est on the 5th. Flood stage is 16.0 feet. At Piketon, the river crested at 21.0 feet around 500 am est on the 6th.The Little Miami…

9. Jul 17, 2001Flash Flood$604,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One hundred homes sustained damage with two destroyed from high water. A resident lost six cars when water flooded his garage. Several roads across county sustained minor damage. Total estimate of public assistance is 603,916.

10. May 7, 2024Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado began in the Little Miami River Valley, within the village of Morrow where tree damage and minor structure damage was observed. Extensive tree damage occurred along the northern hillside rising up out of the valley. More sporadic tree damage was noted along the hillside rising up from the southern side of the river. Several homes along Mason Morrow Millgrove Road received structural damage. One home had a total removal of its second story while an adjacent home had partial removal of its roof. Winds at this location were estimated to be at 95 mph, or EF-1.||The tornado continued northeast along the Little Miami River, with more damage found near the intersection of…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

102°FJul 7, 2012

All-time low

−11°FJan 27, 2003

Warmest night

79°FJul 30, 1999

Coldest day

7°F3 times, most recently Jan 1, 2018

Wettest day

3.80 inSep 27, 2002

Hottest year

2024mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 51.4°F

Wettest year

201159.28 in

Driest year

199928.21 in

Station Dayton Wright Brothers Airport (USW00053859), 953 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1997 to October 27, 2026; 95.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Warren County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00053859.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.