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: 0.
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. Aug 28, 2011Flood$22.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After receiving eight to ten inches of rain associated with Tropical Storm Irene, major flooding occurred to portions of northwest Massachusetts, from Greenfield northwest through Colrain, Leyden, and vicinity. There were evacuations- exact amount unknown- and there were homes that were condemned. A house on West Leyden Road was reported to have been washed away in Leyden on the Green River. Multiple major routes/highways were affected in western Massachusetts, including Route 2, I-91, Route 20, Route 5, and Route 112 as well as numerous smaller roads. A flood survey along the Deerfield River indicated that in between Routes 5 and I-91, a large swath of farmland was inundated, and…

2. Mar 30, 2001Heavy Snow, Western Franklin$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm system brought heavy snow to portions of interior Massachusetts, heavy rain and strong winds closer to the coast, and renewed flooding on some rivers and streams in eastern Massachusetts.Snowfall accumulations were confined to the higher terrain of western, central, and northeast Massachusetts where around one foot of snow fell. As much as 15 inches fell in Ashburnham, 12 inches in Leyden and Shelburne, and 11 inches in Shirley. The lower elevations reported snowfall totals between 3 and 6 inches on average. In general, accumulating snows fell along and outside of the Interstate 495 corridor.Strong northeast winds buffeted the coast, averaging between 40 and 50 mph over…

3. Aug 28, 2011Tropical Storm, Eastern Franklin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees in Warwick (Sheperdson Road), Gill (Main Road), Shutesbury, and Deerfield (River Road) were downed onto wires. In Shutesbury, a tree was downed onto a house on Shore Drive. A tree on Mill Village Road was downed onto a house in Deerfield.||The Automated Surface Observing Station at Orange Municipal Airport (KORE) recorded sustained wind speeds of 24 knots (28 mph) and gusts to 37 knots (43 mph).

4. Mar 9, 2001Heavy Snow, Western Franklin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm tracking from the Great Lakes to just south of New England brought heavy snow to much of interior Massachusetts. The highest snowfall totals were found in the higher elevations of central and northeast Massachusetts, where around one foot of snow fell. Other areas, including Greater Boston, received 4 to 8 inches of snow on average.

5. Dec 11, 2008Ice Storm, Western Franklin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Half an inch of ice accumulated on exposed surfaces in western Franklin County. Trees and wires were downed in Ashfield, Buckland, and Shelburne.

6. Dec 11, 2008Ice Storm, Eastern Franklin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Half an inch of ice accumulated on exposed surfaces across eastern Franklin County. Trees, wires, and a utility pole were downed in Greenfield, Sunderland, and Warwick.

7. Oct 9, 2005Flood, Eastern Franklin$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow-moving cold front interacted with the remnants of Tammy produced significant rain and flooding across western Massachusetts. Northwest Massachusetts, in particular, received between 9 and 11 inches of rain from this event.The significant rainfall washed out numerous roads in Hampshire and Franklin counties, including the towns of Plainfield, Chesterfield, and Bernardston. In Springfield, an apartment roof collapsed due to the weight of water on it. The swollen Green River flooded a mobile home park in Greenfield, knocking some homes off their foundations.No known injuries directly resulted from this heavy rainfall event in Massachusetts.

8. Jun 13, 1996Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with torrential downpours produced a flash flood, which resulted in the worst flooding in 100 years of records on the Sawmill River. All but one access road into the town of Leverett was washed out. The Spaulding Brook experienced its worst flooding in recent memory. A site survey was conducted by the National Weather Service on June 14th. More than 30 miles of roadway in southern Montague and Leverett were destroyed. Numerous homes and businesses experienced some degree of flood damage. The most significant damage was in Leverett along the confluence of the Spaulding Brook and Sawmill Creek, where a two-lane bridge, approximately 200 feet long, was destroyed,…

9. Dec 7, 1996Heavy Snow, Eastern Franklin$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A low pressure system centered over Georgia at 7 AM on December 7th moved rapidly northeast across North Carolina. The intensifying system then moved nearly parallel to the Mid-Atlantic coast with its center reaching Plymouth County in southeastern Massachusetts during the early morning hours of December 8th. Temperatures rose into the 50s along and east of the track of the low center...over Plymouth County and Cape Cod. Heavy precipitation occurred across all of Massachusetts with rain over coastal areas and the southeast part of the state and heavy snow in all of western and central Massachusetts and much of Middlesex and Essex counties in the northeastern part of the state. A…

10. Dec 7, 1996Heavy Snow, Western Franklin$1.4 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A low pressure system centered over Georgia at 7 AM on December 7th moved rapidly northeast across North Carolina. The intensifying system then moved nearly parallel to the Mid-Atlantic coast with its center reaching Plymouth County in southeastern Massachusetts during the early morning hours of December 8th. Temperatures rose into the 50s along and east of the track of the low center...over Plymouth County and Cape Cod. Heavy precipitation occurred across all of Massachusetts with rain over coastal areas and the southeast part of the state and heavy snow in all of western and central Massachusetts and much of Middlesex and Essex counties in the northeastern part of the state. A…

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

104°FJul 4, 1911

All-time low

−30°FJan 22, 1961

Warmest night

80°FJul 5, 1990

Coldest day

−3°FDec 30, 1933

Wettest day

7.56 inOct 9, 2005

Snowiest day

18.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 6, 2001

Hottest year

1949mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

1904mean 44.3°F

Wettest year

201863.62 in

Driest year

196327.66 in

Snowiest season

83.9 in1995-96

Station Amherst (USC00190120), 145 ft elevation, 13.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.4% 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 USC00190120.
• 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.