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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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. Sep 2, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Outer rain bands continued to track over the same areas of central and eastern Franklin County and produced 4 to 7 inches of rain. This was the first major rain axis to move across the county. Numerous roads were flooded during this time with several washed out and a few bridges damaged. Several homes were flooded as well and some people had to be rescued from their homes. Crops were damaged as well around the county from rain soaked fields.

2. Feb 22, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another round of thunderstorms and heavy rain caused additional flooding across northeast and eastern portions of Franklin County. A few creeks were out of their banks and water was over a couple roads. Total rainfall from the event ranged between 4 and 6 inches.

3. May 3, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant straight line winds and wind damage occurred across a large portion of Franklin County. Winds between 80 and 90 mph occurred as a derecho raced across the county. Hundreds of trees and many power lines were blown down across the county. Several trees were down on homes and awnings were torn off buildings.

4. Dec 28, 2024Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-3 tornado touched down in southern Franklin County near Middleton Creek Road and moved northeast. Broad and sporadic wind damage in the area suggests the tornado was still consolidating in this area. As the tornado crossed Berryton Road, it had reached EF-3 intensity and destroyed the O'Zion Baptist Church there. Most walls were collapsed, but two people took shelter in the bathroom and were unharmed. Documents from the church including bank statements and cancelled checks were found as far away as Brandon, MS to the northeast. Several homes in the area were also damaged including roof damage to a home, and an unanchored mobile home which was rolled once. Both residents of…

5. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Franklin$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds occurred across Franklin County as the outer edges of Hurricane Gustav moved across southern Louisiana. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Tree damage was widespread across the county as wind gusts peaked between 50 and 60 mph for several hours. Sustained winds were around 40 mph.

6. Jun 20, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous homes sustained roof damage in the West Haven subdivision. Numerous trees were snapped or blown down. Several sheds were damaged or destroyed.

7. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Franklin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Katrina will likely go down as the worst and costliest natural disaster in United States history. The amount of destruction, the cost of damaged property/agriculture and the large loss of life across the affected region has been overwhelming. Catastrophic damage was widespread across a large portion of the Gulf Coast region. The devastation was not only confined to the coastal region, widespread and significant damage occurred well inland up to the Hattiesburg area and northward past Interstate 20. This hurricane has changed life as we know it across the Gulf Coast region which will take many years to return to normal.Hurricane Katrina was a very large and powerful storm…

8. Feb 11, 2010Heavy Snow, Franklin$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 6 inches of snow was reported across portions of Franklin County, with 6.5 inches reported in Bude.

9. Feb 21, 2008Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were under water around Meadville heading toward the northeast corner of the county, generally north of Highway 84. This was round one of the heavy rain where 2 to 3 inches fell in about an hour and a half.

10. Feb 3, 2011Ice Storm, Franklin$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A quarter inch of ice accumulated across the county with nearly all bridges iced over. Some accidents were reported.

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

106°FAug 30, 2000

All-time low

2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 29, 1990

Coldest day

19°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

10.98 inOct 4, 1964

Snowiest day

4.7 inFeb 23, 1968

Hottest year

2023mean 68.3°F

Coldest year

1976mean 63.3°F

Wettest year

200285.53 in

Driest year

196336.86 in

Snowiest season

7.0 in1967-68

Station Mccomb Airport (USW00093919), 405 ft elevation, 30.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00093919.
• 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.