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: 2.
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.

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

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.

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 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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Franklin$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. Gusts over 60 mph were common. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines to significant structural damage.

2. Apr 29, 1996Flood, Franklin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred along the Whitewater river in East-Central and Southeast Indiana. The river level below Brookville lake reached its highest stage since 1968. The heavy rainfall also resulted in the lake level climbing to nearly 4 feet above the previous record pool stage. Flood stage at Brookville was 20 feet and the crest reached 21.86 feet. At least 166 homes and 13 businesses in seven counties had major damage. Numerous roads were washed out and 16 residents were evacuated.

3. Sep 8, 2016Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water was flowing over several roads across Franklin County, including U.S. Route 52. One bridge on River Road sustained significant damage. On Big Cedar Road, the pavement on a section of the road was peeled away and laid into a field beside the road. Several other bridge approaches were damaged in the county and numerous culvert pipes were destroyed.

4. Jun 19, 2021Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of flash flooding were received from southern portions of Franklin County. Multiple road wash outs and erosions occurred along Barber Road, Bessler Road, Cane Mill Road, Cherry Hill Road, County Line Road, Creek Road, Elkhorn Road, Enochsburg Road, Gobles Creek Road, Monroe Road, Mountford Lane, Orchard Road, Pine Road, Pipe Creek Road, Possum Hollow Road, River Road, Russell Road, Shanks Road, Siemon Road, Sorber Road, St. Peters Road, Stockpile Road and Webb Road.

5. May 1, 2012Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down and produced significant damage to 3 farmsteads. There was damage to several large buildings which consisted primarily of aluminum and wood. Several small sheds which were not anchored down were either blown completely off their foundation or moved from the foundation. Some of the larger buildings had collapsed walls, doors blown in, broken windows, and large sections of their roofs torn off. Several silos were severely damaged. A narrow path of wood and metal debris extended across the farm fields between the farmsteads. Several trees 3 to 6 inches in diameter were snapped and twisted. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum wind speed of this tornado…

6. Jun 18, 2026Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first evidence of tornado damage occurred along Gobblers Knob Road, where some trees were damaged. Additional damage was found on Seeley Road, where large tree limbs were knocked down. The tornado moved east, producing more tree damage along Johnson Fork Road. The tornado strengthened as it moved into Drewersburg, producing more significant tree damage along Welsh Drive and Drewersburg Road. One single family home along Welsh Road had its roof completely lifted off with collapse of some exterior walls.||Winds that produced this damage were estimated to be around 125 mph, which corresponds to an EF-2 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornado continued east, where a roof…

7. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Franklin$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This massive storm system developed in the Gulf Coast and moved up the East Coast. The heaviest snow fell across Southeast Indiana where up to a foot of snow occurred near the Kentucky border. Farther north, around 6 inches fell in Wayne county. Strong winds caused significant blowing and drifting snow, especially to the north where the snow was lighter and more powdery.

8. Jul 28, 2023Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to 7 inches of rain caused widespread flash flooding across much of Franklin County. Several roads and culverts were damaged due to the rushing water.

9. Jul 28, 2023Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wolf Creek rose six feet out of its banks and caused widespread flash flooding along Wolf Creek Road. Two people were killed when a small cabin they were staying in was washed away.

10. Jul 16, 2021Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Water was flowing across a roadway and carrying debris. A few roads washout were also reported across central Franklin County.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Aug 20, 1936

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Warmest night

81°F4 times, most recently Jul 11, 1936

Coldest day

−9°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.18 inSep 9, 2016

Snowiest day

17.0 inDec 23, 2004

Hottest year

2024mean 57.9°F

Coldest year

1960mean 49.6°F

Wettest year

199063.73 in

Driest year

193418.67 in

Snowiest season

42.5 in1950-51

Station Brookville (USC00121030), 630 ft elevation, 3.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1925 to October 27, 2026; 93.4% 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 USC00121030.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.