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Franklin County, Missouri severe weather history spans 733 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 47.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #365 nationally and #19 in Missouri.
733
Recorded events
6
Direct deaths
43
Direct injuries
$107.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin County, Missouri severe weather history averages 10.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 209 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 108 events fall before 1990 and 625 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 County, Missouri record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 4 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $100.0M 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 County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 345 | 4 | $1.0M | 88 | 1956–2026 |
| Hail | 301 | 0 | $550K | 4 | 1959–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 36 | 2 | $100.0M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 35 | 0 | $3.7M | F4 | 1953–2026 |
| Flood | 10 | 0 | $2.0M | 0 | 1998–2017 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2008 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2005 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
Decade by decade
Franklin County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 31 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956-02-24 | EF4 | 6 | 36 | 77.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-12-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-03-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 19.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-05-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | WASHINGTON | 3 | 6 | $0 |
| May 7, 2000 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 2 | 0 | $100.0M |
| Aug 4, 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | ST CLAIR | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 25, 1956 | Tornado | 0 | 16 | $250K | |
| Apr 11, 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | SULLIVAN | 0 | 11 | $0 |
| Nov 18, 2015 | Flood | BEEMONT | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 5, 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | WASHINGTON | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 13, 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | WASHINGTON | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Between 6 and 9 inches of rain fell across Franklin County during a 2 day period. All of this rain caused the creeks and rivers to rise. The Meramec River, Bourbeuse River and Missouri River all went into major flood with several points cresting at record levels. Almost 415 structures were either damaged or destroyed from the river flooding, with Union and Pacific being the worst hit in Franklin County. Damage estimates so far were around $2 million.
A tornado developed at 8:56pm on March 14th, 2025 on the east side of Villa Ridge, between American Inn Road and Saint Marys Road north of I-44. The tornado very quickly intensified as it moved into a neighborhood near the intersection of Interstate 44 and US Highway 100. In that neighborhood, the tornado damaged numerous homes, making several of them uninhabitable. The strongest estimated wind speeds in this neighborhood were estimated at 130 mph, based on significant damage to three of these homes. The tornado continued to the northeast, damaging an industrial facility before moving into a heavily wooded area in northeastern Franklin county. Here, the tornado resulted in a narrow track of concentrated, intense tree damage. There were also a number of homes in the path that sustained damage. Before crossing into St. Louis County, the tornado hit a microwave tower, knocking the top portion of the tower to the ground. These winds were also estimated to be 130mph.
A small tornado touched down just southwest of New Haven damaging the roof of a house. As the storm moved quickly east-northeast, it peeled the roof of a oil station off and pushed telephone poles along County Road C over. Just before crossing Highway 100, the tornado caused minor damage to the corner of a barn and snapped numerous large trees in half. The tornado lifted shortly after damaging a chicken house north of Highway 100. Witnesses said marble-size hail covered the ground and the storm sounded like a train passing by.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
105,950
Population (ACS)
$228K
Median home value
24
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND WILDFIRES | DR |
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 2, 2017 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jan 21, 2016 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jan 2, 2016 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin County, Missouri?
733 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 6 direct deaths and $107.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 345 recorded events — 47.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 31 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin County?
24 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Franklin County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Franklin County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Franklin County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 83 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin County, Missouri 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
- Dunklin County 442
- Gasconade County 309
- Douglas County 941
- Gentry County 232
- Dent County 398
- Greene County 2,096
Cite this page
“Franklin County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/franklin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.