Franklin County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Franklin County: 28.
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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A violent long track tornado continued it's path from Marion County into southern Franklin County north of Hackleburg. Significant devastation occurred throughout the city of Phil Campbell. Prolific damage was noted from the intersection of CR 51 and Alabama Highway 237, to the intersection of CR 81 and CR 75. Within a two mile corridor of either side of the railroad tracks the damage was significant. Within this corridor, several well constructed houses were destroyed. Along Bonner Street, multiple block homes were leveled to the ground with the block foundations destroyed. A twenty-five foot section of pavement was sucked up and scattered. Chunks of the pavement were found in a…

2. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Franklin$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm brought a mixture of freezing rain...sleet...and rain to the northern half of Alabama. The northwestern quarter of Alabama was especially hard hit. The precipitation began in a narrow band across Fayette, Walker, Cullman, and Marshall counties around 2 am and then around 5am in the rest of the counties and lasted until early afternoon on the 24th. The northwestern quarter of the state saw temperatures at or below freezing for the majority of the event. Liquid equivalent precipitation ranged from one to three inches. Significant ice accumulations of one half to one inch were common across the area. Numerous trees were down across every county. Significant power…

3. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado decreased quickly in intensity as it moved into southeastern Franklin county after producing EF-3 damage in Marion county. Just after crossing the Marion/Franklin county line, the tornado collapsed two chicken houses and ripped roofing material off of two others nearby along highway 187. The tornado continued its brief track northeast and ripped much of the roof off of a two story home as it approached highway 172. Based on roof damage observed and widespread nature of large trees blown down or snapped off near their base, winds were estimated at 120 mph -- EF-2 tornado. Another house nearby experienced significant roof damage as well. The path width at this point was…

4. May 25, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$210,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A bowing line of severe thunderstorms producing wind speeds between 60-70 MPH resulted in widespread wind damage across much of Franklin County AL. Numerous trees were blown down across the county as the sqall line pushed eastward. The hardest hit areas extended from Red Bay to Belgreen. The police in the Red Bay community reported that portable buildings were blown over at a school, numerous trees were down, and several cars were damaged. Some of these trees fell on houses. A tree was blown down onto a trailer on Highway 25, inflicting heavy damage. Fortunately, no one was in the mobile home when the tree fell.

5. Jul 21, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A microburst from a collapsing severe thunderstorm produced significant damage within the town of Russellville. Most structures in downtown received damage of some magnitude, including windows being blown out, portions of roofs being torn off, and large trees being blown down. Eyewitnesses indicated the storm came up very suddenly and did not last long.

6. Sep 18, 2010Wildfire, Franklin$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One large grass fire developed in Franklin county on the east side of CR 83 and jumped to the west side of the highway on Saturday, September 18th, 2010. It then continued onward for another 9 to 10 hours, burning through timberland and farmland. Three structures were lost to the flames before Volunteer firefighters were able to put the fire out. Officials estimate between 250 and 300 acres of land were damaged by this blaze. ||Another smaller grass fire developed at 3 pm on Tuesday, September 21st. It damaged at least another 75 acres before it was contained.

7. Feb 15, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very large trees were uprooted or snapped. A garage collapsed due to the wind and uprooting of a very large root bulb and adjacent home was damaged due to trees falling onto the home. A car was smashed by a tree. Time estimated by radar.

8. Mar 5, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several chicken houses were damaged and a few destroyed in the south central part of Franklin County along with trees and power lines downed along Highway 187 at Hodges.

9. Jul 22, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   several trees and power lines down along with out building blown away and a four homes and businesses with minor to moderate roof and structural damage.

10. Mar 12, 2010Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Penny to golf ball size hail was reported 5 miles east of Phil Campbell.

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

107°F3 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−11°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FJul 11, 1980

Coldest day

9°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

6.01 inMar 15, 2025

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 29, 1966

Hottest year

2024mean 65.1°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.0°F

Wettest year

197578.78 in

Driest year

194330.92 in

Snowiest season

18.5 in1967-68

Station Muscle Shoals Airport (USW00013896), 544 ft elevation, 22.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1940 to October 26, 2026; 97.7% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00013896.
• 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.