Franklin Parish

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 2, 2008Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rains fell from the bands around weakening Hurricane Gustav. These slow moving bands produced tremendous rainfall amounts across nearly all of Franklin Parish. Rainfall totals ranged between 10 and 20 inches. The heaviest of rains fell during the evening of the 2nd and early morning hours of the 3rd. During this rainfall event some of the highest measured amounts fell in Franklin Parish. Jigger measured 20 inches of rain and Winnsboro measured 17.54 inches.||This extreme rainfall flooded numerous roads across the parish and many of these were closed for several days. Many other roads were washed out along with some bridges damaged or destroyed. Dozens of homes and…

2. Oct 16, 2006Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tremendous amounts of rain fell across Franklin Parish during the afternoon and evening of October 16th. Eight to fifteen inches of rain fell during this time causing significant flooding across the parish. Two to three hundred homes were flooded along with a large majority of the roads across the parish. Many roads had sections washed out and were impassable. Locals who have lived in the area all their life mentioned they have never seen water like that before.

3. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Franklin$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds occurred across Franklin Parish as the outer edges of Hurricane Gustav moved across southern and central Louisiana. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Tree damage was widespread across the parish as wind gusts peaked between 50 and 60 mph for several hours. Many roads were blocked by downed trees and the power outages were extensive. Sustained winds were around 40 mph.

4. Mar 10, 2016Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads flooded across the western and northern portions of the parish.

5. Oct 19, 2006Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused several roads in the parish to flood. Several homes were flooded on New Zion Road and off Highway 15 between Baskin and Winnsboro.

6. Jul 19, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple intense microbursts occurred across the southern portion of Franklin Parish. The most significant damage occurred around Winnsboro and Wisner. Dozens of homes sustained structural damage which ranged from roofs blown off or portions of the roof pealed off. Sheds and outbuildings were destroyed along with numerous trees and power lines blown down. Some trees were down on homes which caused substantial damage to the structures. The strongest wind gusts were estimated at 70 kts (80 mph) where the most significant damage occurred.

7. Oct 3, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), Franklin$500,000
8. Jun 3, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several signs and billboards were blown down just outside of Winnsboro as a severe thunderstorm moved through. Some damage also occurred to several roofs along with a cotton warehouse sustaining damage to a few sliding steel doors.

9. Jun 16, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power lines were blown down in a swath across northern portions of the parish. A few homes were damaged due to fallen trees.

10. Feb 12, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several trees were blown down around Gilbert. A few homes also sustained moderate roof damage.

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

109°FAug 31, 1951

All-time low

1°FJan 12, 1962

Warmest night

87°FAug 8, 1947

Coldest day

16°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

13.25 inSep 3, 2008

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 31, 1949

Hottest year

1939mean 69.0°F

Coldest year

1961mean 62.6°F

Wettest year

198378.66 in

Driest year

201032.28 in

Snowiest season

9.0 in1948-49

Station Winnsboro 5 Sse (USC00169806), 80 ft elevation, 3.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 90.1% 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 USC00169806.
• 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.