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: 4.
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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by KY GS (36), NASA (3).

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. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Franklin$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record to near record rainfall from early March 1 through March 2 caused the highest flooding on the Kentucky River at Frankfort since 1937 with the river cresting at 45.2 feet at 1 pm est March 3 (flood stage is 31 feet). Meanwhile, further south where rain totals were not as high, the flooding was only minor. The river at Highbridge crested at 37.4 feet at 7 pm est March 2 (flood stage is 30 feet). At Ford, the river only reached 27.1 feet at 8 pm est March 5 (flood stage is 26 feet). Numerous rescues were made during both the flash flooding and the flooding along the Kentucky River. The flooding was particularly bad along Elkhorn Creek in Franklin county where many two-story…

2. Aug 22, 2003Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A woman and her son were killed when their home was washed into Stony Creek, a tributary of the Kentucky River. Eight other homes were destroyed, and 32 others were damaged. Of the damaged homes, 21 were uninhabitable. Many vehicles were damaged and moved by the force of the flood waters. Several roads in the Harvieland and Bald Knob area northwest of Frankfort were washed out. Two school buses were trapped by high water in the area, but all aboard were rescued without injury.

3. May 3, 2010Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kentucky River at Frankfort crested at 42.8 feet around 7 PM EST on May 4. Flood stage at Frankfort is 31 feet. Major flooding occurs at this level with basements of homes and businessed in downtown Frankfort flooded. The Bellepoint area was cut off by high water.

4. Feb 6, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado downed numerous hardwood trees on a steep ridge near Elkhorn Creek. It increased in intensity as it moved to the northeast, and did extensive roof damage to two homes on the west side of Lucas Lane. It destroyed five barns on the east side of the road.

5. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Franklin County Emergency Manager reported multiple roofs off homes and damage to farm structures in the Peaks Mill Community.

6. Mar 23, 2011Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a tree and a cabin. The cabin was destroyed.

7. Feb 15, 2003Ice Storm, Franklin$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Light to occasionally moderate freezing rain began on the evening of the 15th, and continued through the evening of the 16th. Reports of ice accumulations of an inch were common along and north of Interstate 64, from Frankfort to Winchester. The hardest hit areas were in and around the cities of Frankfort and Lexington, where up to an inch and a quarter of ice accumulation was observed. A 78 year old male in Lawrenceburg in Anderson County died of injuries sustained when he was struck by a falling, ice covered, tree limb. After the storm, it is estimated that nearly 125,000 residents were without power for up to five days or more. Most of the property damage was reported in the…

8. Apr 4, 2008Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A motorist drove into high water, and was rescued. Other cars were abandoned in high water. Fifteen to twenty roadways were under water in the county. Some locations included Devils Hollow Bridge Road, Wilkinson Boulevard, and sections of Holmes Street.

9. Apr 3, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were downed across the city of Frankfort. The exterior wall of an apartment building collapsed.

10. Jul 20, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The county reported multiple trees were down around the city, as well as some power lines.

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 Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−21°FJan 24, 1963

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 1874

Coldest day

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 12, 1918

Wettest day

8.04 inAug 2, 1932

Snowiest day

13.4 inJan 26, 1943

Hottest year

2024mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1917mean 52.3°F

Wettest year

201871.98 in

Driest year

193024.89 in

Snowiest season

55.4 in1916-17

Station Lexington Bluegrass Airport (USW00093820), 962 ft elevation, 17.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1872 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00093820.
• 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.