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Franklin County, Kansas severe weather history spans 588 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 42.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #622 nationally and #68 in Kansas.
588
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
29
Direct injuries
$15.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin County, Kansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin County, Kansas severe weather history averages 7.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 205 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 79 events fall before 1990 and 509 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, Kansas record is tornado, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $5.3M 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 County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 250 | 0 | $1.3M | 3 | 1959–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 238 | 0 | $5.3M | 87 | 1956–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 46 | 0 | $3.8M | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Tornado | 29 | 3 | $3.0M | F5 | 1951–2026 |
| Flood | 10 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2009 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | $127K | 0 | 1996–2007 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $20K | 0 | 2003–2007 |
Decade by decade
Franklin County, Kansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
27 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 23 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-05-20 | EF5 | 44 | 207 | 69.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-04-16 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-05-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-04-22 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-11-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-05-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-05-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-03-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-02-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-05-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 1957 | Tornado | 3 | 11 | $2.5M | |
| Aug 19, 1987 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 10 | $0 | |
| Apr 13, 2026 | Tornado | OTTAWA | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 1954 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Jun 28, 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | OTTAWA | 0 | 1 | $70K |
| Oct 5, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| Apr 23, 1964 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $3K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Douglas road next to Pottawatomie creek flooded for 1/4 of a mile. Rain continues producing increasingly widespread flooding through the rest of the month. Record flooding occurs near Lane on Pottawatomie Creek and near Pomona on the Marais des Cygnes river. By late on the 30th, homes are flooded and the fire department is assisting with evacuations. Snakes were seen swimming for shelter and raccoons were trapped in trees. Flooding continues into July.
Rain ends but flooding continues into the new month. Many roads are flooded. Emergency manager reports that up to 25 homes have been evacuated with 15 homes flooded in Lane. Homes are evacuated on the west and east sides of Ottawa due to approaching floodwaters. Flood gates closed in downtown Ottawa. Highway K68 bridge crossing the Marais des Cygnes west of Ottawa has 5 feet of water over the bridge. An indirect fatality occurred nearly two weeks later (on the 15th) when a motorist was thrown from his vehicle 4 miles east of Pomona after hitting a hole in the road caused by flood waters earlier in the month. A state report said that flood waters destroyed five houses in the county with 20 receiving major damage, 23 had minor damage and 21 were affected by not considered damaged.
Large hail accompanied by high winds caused widespread damage in and north of Wellsville. This supercell storm had originated in central Kansas and produced extensive and widespread, mainly straightline/ downburst wind damage, as it moved east across the region, finally exiting the state around 2200 CST.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
26,106
Population (ACS)
$199K
Median home value
22
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 20, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING,LANDSLIDES,AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| May 28, 2019 | Severe Storm | TORNADOES AND FLOODING | EM |
| Jul 20, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Ottawa 188
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin County, Kansas?
588 events are on record between 1951 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths and $15.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin County?
Hail, with 250 recorded events — 42.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin County?
27 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 23 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin County?
22 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 44 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin County, Kansas 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
- Ford County 1,772
- Geary County 482
- Finney County 1,315
- Gove County 754
- Ellsworth County 685
- Graham County 696
Cite this page
“Franklin County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/franklin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.