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Franklin County, Tennessee severe weather history spans 449 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 57.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,066 nationally and #19 in Tennessee.
449
Recorded events
9
Direct deaths
59
Direct injuries
$2.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin County, Tennessee severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin County, Tennessee severe weather history averages 6.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 129 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 30 events fall before 1990 and 419 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, Tennessee record is tornado, responsible for 9 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $1.4M 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 | 259 | 0 | $688K | 78 | 1958–2025 |
| Hail | 86 | 0 | $20K | 2.75 | 1974–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 49 | 0 | $2K | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Tornado | 36 | 9 | $1.4M | F4 | 1952–2025 |
| Lightning | 10 | 0 | $147K | 0 | 1996–2012 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2012 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2018 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2013 |
Decade by decade
Franklin County, Tennessee severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
37 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-27 | EF5 | 72 | 145 | 132.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-03 | EF5 | 16 | 190 | 83.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-03 | EF4 | 11 | 121 | 27.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1952-02-13 | EF4 | 3 | 44 | 12.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-04-03 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 7.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-02-28 | EF2 | 1 | 4 | 16.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-11-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 29.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-05-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-11-07 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 7.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 1974 | Tornado | 5 | 21 | $250K | |
| Feb 14, 1952 | Tornado | 3 | 35 | $250K | |
| Feb 28, 2011 | Tornado | AWALT | 1 | 0 | $40K |
| Jan 10, 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | WINCHESTER | 0 | 2 | $1K |
| Nov 7, 1996 | Tornado | HUNTLAND | 0 | 1 | $500K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The worst damage occurred in western portions of Franklin county. In these locations mobile homes were destroyed, multiple power poles and trees were snapped, and homes sustained significant roof damage. A 79 year old man was killed near Estill Springs, along UT Farm road, when the mobile home he occupied was picked up and thrown 70 yards.
A tornado touched down between Belvedere and Walnut Grove. Two farms were damaged. Half of one farmhouse along with several outbuildings were destroyed. A barn at the other farm was moved 1000 feet. A few houses suffered shingle damage to their roofs. Several hundred trees were uprooted.
A tornado snapped numerous trees and uprooted several cedar tree trunks along a 1.5 mile path north of U.S. highway 64 between Huntland and Maxwell. Shingles and roof panels of a home and a barn were peeled back along Stratton Road and Pleasant Ridge Road near Branchville.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
43,990
Population (ACS)
$237K
Median home value
15
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 2, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| May 1, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND ASSOCIATED FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin County, Tennessee?
449 events are on record between 1952 and 2025, causing 9 direct deaths and $2.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 259 recorded events — 57.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin County?
37 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 29 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin County?
15 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 58 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin County, Tennessee 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
- Fentress County 298
- Gibson County 399
- Fayette County 356
- Giles County 327
- Dyer County 263
- Grainger County 232
Cite this page
“Franklin County, Tennessee.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/tennessee/franklin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.