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North and Central Sebastian; Southern Crawford; Central and Southern Franklin; Washington; Nowata; Tulsa; Rogers; Mayes; Okmulgee; Wagoner; Muskogee; McIntosh; Southeast Osage
Heat Advisory
North and Central Sebastian; Southern Crawford; Central and Southern Franklin; Washington; Nowata; Tulsa; Rogers; Mayes; Okmulgee; Wagoner; Muskogee; McIntosh; Southeast Osage
Franklin County, Arkansas severe weather history spans 698 recorded events between 1959 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 47.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #406 nationally and #11 in Arkansas.
698
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
28
Direct injuries
$12.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin County, Arkansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin County, Arkansas severe weather history averages 10.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 253 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 42 events fall before 1990 and 656 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, Arkansas record is tornado, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $7.7M in reported property damage. In total, 7 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 | 333 | 0 | $1.4M | 87 | 1959–2026 |
| Hail | 233 | 0 | $1.9M | 3 | 1961–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 69 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 38 | 3 | $7.7M | F2 | 1961–2024 |
| Flood | 15 | 0 | $150K | 0 | 2015–2025 |
| Lightning | 8 | 0 | $92K | 0 | 1996–2010 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–1999 |
Decade by decade
Franklin County, Arkansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
36 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 30 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-05-24 | EF4 | 4 | 27 | 45.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-04-21 | EF3 | 2 | 6 | 15.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-03-14 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 40.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2001-11-23 | EF2 | 1 | 4 | 31.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-03-12 | EF2 | 1 | 18 | 28.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-04-21 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-11-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-04-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-11-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 2011 | Tornado | DENNING | 2 | 10 | $2.0M |
| May 25, 2011 | Tornado | PETER PENDER | 1 | 6 | $1.5M |
| Mar 12, 1961 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $250K | |
| Apr 15, 2011 | Tornado | CHARLESTON | 0 | 2 | $30K |
| Apr 22, 1996 | Tornado | FERN | 0 | 2 | $500K |
| Apr 3, 1964 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 1, 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | BRANCH | 0 | 1 | $25K |
| Aug 13, 2006 | Lightning | ALTUS | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An F1 tornado touched down 1 mile west of Altus and crossed the Johnson County border 6 miles northeast of Altus. The tornado first began doing damage just southwest of Highway 64. The strongest intensity began just south of Interstate 40, just east of Wiederkerh Village and continued across Interstate 40 into Philpott Valley where most of the property damage occurred. The tornado resulted in F1 damage to several houses. Several mobile homes, numerous barns, outbuildings, and other weaker structures were destroyed, including two long turkey houses.
Just south of Ozark, golfball to baseball-sized hail fell, while quarter to golfball-sized hail fell and covered the ground just north of Ozark.There were widespread reports of damage to vehicles and to roofs on homes and other structures.
Thunderstorms with heavy rain moved repeatedly over Franklin county during the April 20s. This caused several rounds of flash flooding. Numerous county roads were flooded at one time or another. Some more notable highways that were closed were Highway 23 2 miles south of Cass and Highway 219 7 miles north of Ozark. Damage to roads was estimated to be in excess of $100,000. In addition to the flooded roads as many as 12 to 15 homes received damage from the flood waters. On April 25th, the governor of Arkansas declared the county a disaster area.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
17,326
Population (ACS)
$131K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 5, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM |
| Aug 27, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE LAURA | EM |
| Apr 3, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 8, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Ozark 192
- Charleston 123
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin County, Arkansas?
698 events are on record between 1959 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths and $12.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 333 recorded events — 47.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin County?
36 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 30 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin County?
27 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 low risk, placing it in the 49 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin County, Arkansas 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
- Faulkner County 825
- Fulton County 308
- Drew County 367
- Garland County 818
- Desha County 267
- Grant County 380
Cite this page
“Franklin County, Arkansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arkansas/franklin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.