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: 3.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 15, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were uprooted. There was damage to the high school roof. Numerous power lines down over a large swath of Wellsville.

2. Nov 1, 1998Flash Flood$2.5 million
3. Aug 26, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved north across Franklin county producing numerous reports of damaging winds. Five planes were overturned and a business severely damaged at Ottawa airport. Much crop damage was also reported.

4. Jan 29, 2002Winter Storm, Franklin$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm struck all of north central...northeast and east central Kansas in late January. Freezing rain mixed at times with sleet occurred across east central Kansas from the early evening of January 29 into the morning of January 31. The freezing rain accumulated as much as an inch and a half of glaze which caused considerable power line and tree damage. Many residents remained without power well into February. Several buildings collapsed under the weight of the ice doing considerable damage to the contents. A boat marina at Lake Perry collapsed under the weight of the ice and damaged or destroyed 19 boats. Northeast Kansas received mostly snow from the night of the…

5. Jul 11, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread baseball size hail damaged roofs, buildings, and many car windows in the Ottawa area during an early evening storm.

6. Jun 29, 2007Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Douglas road next to Pottawatomie creek flooded for 1/4 of a mile. Rain continues producing increasingly widespread flooding through the rest of the month. Record flooding occurs near Lane on Pottawatomie Creek and near Pomona on the Marais des Cygnes river. By late on the 30th, homes are flooded and the fire department is assisting with evacuations. Snakes were seen swimming for shelter and raccoons were trapped in trees. Flooding continues into July.

7. Jul 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm moved out of Franklin county and into Franklin county where it did the most damage. Many trees of greater than 36 diameter were snapped or uprooted from the storm. The heaviest damage was incurred at the Ottawa Airport where eyewitness estimates the wind speed ranged from 90 to 100 mph. Two 18 wheel trucks were reported as overturned, as a result of the strong winds as the storm crossed Interstate 35 in Ottawa. A hangar collapsed onto a collection of small aircraft at the Ottawa airport. Approximately half a dozen small aircraft were heavily damage when the structure caved in. A motel was also destroyed when the roof was completely ripped off the top of the structure.…

8. Aug 26, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$325,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 10 homes along with numerous trees and power lines were badly damaged by 60 to 70 mph straight line winds.

9. Jul 1, 2007Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain ends but flooding continues into the new month. Many roads are flooded. Emergency manager reports that up to 25 homes have been evacuated with 15 homes flooded in Lane. Homes are evacuated on the west and east sides of Ottawa due to approaching floodwaters. Flood gates closed in downtown Ottawa. Highway K68 bridge crossing the Marais des Cygnes west of Ottawa has 5 feet of water over the bridge. An indirect fatality occurred nearly two weeks later (on the 15th) when a motorist was thrown from his vehicle 4 miles east of Pomona after hitting a hole in the road caused by flood waters earlier in the month. A state report said that flood waters destroyed five houses in the county…

10. Jul 19, 2005Flood, Franklin$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Many county roads washed out in the southern part of the county. Some roads covered with three feet of water. The flooding was the result of up to ten inches of rain.

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

118°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−28°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Aug 19, 1936

Coldest day

−9°FFeb 11, 1899

Wettest day

8.45 inAug 1, 2019

Snowiest day

14.0 inMar 23, 1912

Hottest year

1954mean 59.2°F

Coldest year

2013mean 52.4°F

Wettest year

201964.61 in

Driest year

197620.12 in

Snowiest season

62.5 in1959-60

Station Ottawa (USC00146128), 905 ft elevation, 1.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 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.

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 USC00146128.
• 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.