Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Ashley; Chicot; Morehouse; West Carroll; East Carroll; Richland; Madison; Franklin; Catahoula; Tensas; Concordia; Bolivar; Sunflower; Leflore; Grenada; Carroll; Montgomery; Webster; Clay; Lowndes; Choctaw; Oktibbeha; Washington; Humphreys; Holmes; Attala; Winston; Noxubee; Issaquena; Sharkey; Yazoo; Madison; Leake; Neshoba; Kemper; Warren; Hinds; Rankin; Scott; Newton; Lauderdale; Claiborne; Copiah; Simpson; Smith; Jasper; Clarke; Jefferson; Adams; Franklin; Lincoln; Lawrence; Jefferson Davis; Covington; Jones; Marion; Lamar; Forrest
Heat Advisory
Ashley; Chicot; Morehouse; West Carroll; East Carroll; Richland; Madison; Franklin; Catahoula; Tensas; Concordia; Bolivar; Sunflower; Leflore; Grenada; Carroll; Montgomery; Webster; Clay; Lowndes; Choctaw; Oktibbeha; Washington; Humphreys; Holmes; Attala; Winston; Noxubee; Issaquena; Sharkey; Yazoo; Madison; Leake; Neshoba; Kemper; Warren; Hinds; Rankin; Scott; Newton; Lauderdale; Claiborne; Copiah; Simpson; Smith; Jasper; Clarke; Jefferson; Adams; Franklin; Lincoln; Lawrence; Jefferson Davis; Covington; Jones; Marion; Lamar; Forrest
Franklin Parish, Louisiana severe weather history spans 461 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 54.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,014 nationally and #19 in Louisiana.
461
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
21
Direct injuries
$52.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin Parish, Louisiana severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin Parish, Louisiana severe weather history averages 6.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 117 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 86 events fall before 1990 and 375 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Franklin Parish, Louisiana record is tornado, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $38.3M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Franklin Parish
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 250 | 0 | $6.7M | 87 | 1973–2026 |
| Hail | 129 | 0 | $2.0M | 2.75 | 1965–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 41 | 0 | $38.3M | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Tornado | 32 | 2 | $5.2M | F3 | 1956–2022 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $360K | 0 | 2006–2014 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2005 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2010–2010 |
| Flood | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2022–2022 |
Decade by decade
Franklin Parish, Louisiana severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
35 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 27 touched down inside it and 8 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971-02-21 | EF5 | 47 | 510 | 109.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-01-21 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1983-04-01 | EF3 | 0 | 4 | 21.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-11-26 | EF2 | 1 | 1 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-04-02 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 5.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2000-11-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 25.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1986-04-12 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1983-05-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-12-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 43.3 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin Parish
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1980 | Tornado | 1 | 2 | $250K | |
| Nov 27, 2019 | Tornado | BASKIN | 1 | 1 | $120K |
| Apr 1, 1983 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 12, 1986 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $250K | |
| Apr 30, 1975 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $25K | |
| Apr 2, 2017 | Tornado | CHASE | 0 | 2 | $300K |
| Nov 11, 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Winnsboro | 0 | 2 | $25K |
| Jul 19, 2006 | Lightning | WINNSBORO | 0 | 1 | $20K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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 businesses were flooded. Flood damage was significant in most cases.||Agriculture was very hard hit across the parish as well. Nearly all farm land was flooded at some point with varying levels of standing water from minor to extreme depths. Many areas experienced total losses with some crops while the rest had very low yields. The hardest hit crops were cotton, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.
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.
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.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
19,408
Population (ACS)
$113K
Median home value
42
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE | EM |
| Sep 13, 2021 | Coastal Storm | TROPICAL STORM NICHOLAS | EM |
| Aug 29, 2021 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IDA | DR |
| Aug 27, 2021 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM IDA | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin Parish, Louisiana?
461 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $52.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin Parish?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 250 recorded events — 54.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin Parish?
35 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 27 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin Parish?
42 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Franklin Parish, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Franklin Parish compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Franklin Parish as very low risk, placing it in the 36 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin Parish, Louisiana severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Evangeline Parish 234
- Grant Parish 348
- East Feliciana Parish 155
- Iberia Parish 237
- East Carroll Parish 313
- Iberville Parish 177
Cite this page
“Franklin Parish, Louisiana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/louisiana/franklin-parish/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.