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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 8, 2015Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of hail up to the size of hen eggs was reported from near Bunn to near Pilot. Multiple homes had holes in the siding and windows and multiple cars' windshields were scattered.

2. Jul 26, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power-lines were reported down on North Carolina Highway 56. Numerous power outages were reported across eastern portions of Franklin County as well. One tree was blown onto a house on Edward Best Road.

3. Apr 15, 1996Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm moved into Franklin county and destroyed a cement block building 1 mile SW of the community of Pilot. The storm then crossed over Hwy 64 where numerous trees were twisted and downed. Several outbuildings were also destroyed. The storm then entered Pilot where the damage path reached 250 yards across.A frame house was rotated, lifted off its foundation, and moved 30 feet. Cars were thrown into a local farm pond along with other debris. As the tornado left Pilot and approached HWY 39, the tornado reached it greatest width of nearly 400 yards. Damage was evident at every home in its path. The storm then weakened before it moved into Nash county.

4. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Franklin$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Franklin County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Franklin County as a result of the strong winds.

5. Jul 6, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was significant damage to various aircraft at the Triangle North Executive Airport, including a glider belonging to the Franklin Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. A few hangers were also damaged.

6. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Franklin$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Franklin County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Franklin County as a result of the tropical storm force wind gusts.

7. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Franklin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall/sleet amounts of 5 to 7 inches fell across the county. The heavy wet snow caused extensive power outages from falling trees and power lines.

8. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Franklin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Franklin County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Franklin County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

9. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Franklin$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts downed numerous trees, caused widespread power outages and produced a variety of damage to homes throughout the county.

10. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Franklin$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph resulted in scattered trees and power lines down across Franklin County, including some on structures. This resulted in some power outages in Franklin County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

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

107°FJul 27, 1940

All-time low

−10°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jun 24, 1923

Coldest day

13°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

7.55 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 14, 1933

Hottest year

1921mean 62.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

202068.79 in

Driest year

198125.65 in

Snowiest season

21.5 in1939-40

Station Louisburg (USC00315123), 260 ft elevation, 4.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 92.7% 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 USC00315123.
• 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.