Franklin County, Washington severe weather history spans 45 recorded events between 1955 and 2020. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 68.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #3,072 nationally and #20 in Washington.
45
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$3.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Franklin County, Washington severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Franklin County, Washington severe weather history averages 0.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 16 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 5 events fall before 1990 and 40 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, Washington record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flood, with $3.0M 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 | 31 | 1 | $775K | 73 | 1987–2020 |
| Hail | 5 | 0 | $0 | 2.75 | 1955–2012 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $17K | 0 | 1998–2020 |
| Tornado | 2 | 0 | $25K | F1 | 1978–1983 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $3.0M | 0 | 2017–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2010 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–1999 |
Decade by decade
Franklin County, Washington severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
4 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 3 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983-04-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-07-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-08-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1956-05-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Franklin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | JOSO | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 31, 2020 | Lightning | PASCO | 0 | 4 | $12K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A small recreational fishing vessel with 3 people on board capsized in rough seas created by a severe thunderstorms on the Snake River. 2 people (one male and one female) were able to make it safely to shore. One male was missing until Sunday morning (5/31) when he was located deceased by Search and Rescue.
Mild temperatures February 9 -13 allowed an initial snow melt and heavy rain caused rapid melting and increased runoff across Franklin County. This area had a snow pack of 5-10 inches on February 15, with much of it melted by February 21. Rain amounts of 0.50 to 0.75 were seen on February 16 and temperatures remained above freezing through February 22 with additional rain amounts of 0.50 to 1.00 inches on February 21-22. Numerous county roads had washouts, erosion, slides and undermining. In Connell, the ground was saturated with the melting snow pack and heavy rain to the north of town ( Lind, Washington had about 1 inch of rain over the 2 day period, February 15 and 16). The Esquatzel Coulee at Connell was over-topped with water and ice running through streets. A large sinkhole/erosion area was noted near Eltopia. Damage is estimated at 3 million dollars for Franklin County, for mainly roads.
Strong wind gusts from a thunderstorm flipped two small airplanes at the Tri-Cities airport in Pasco. Five feeding bunks at DeVries Dairy were also destroyed. The winds knocked out power to thousands of residents in the county, and toppled many trees.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
98,902
Population (ACS)
$379K
Median home value
11
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, SNOWSTORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 4, 2021 | Fire | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Apr 21, 2017 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Mar 2, 2009 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND RECORD AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Franklin County, Washington?
45 events are on record between 1955 and 2020, causing 1 direct deaths and $3.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Franklin County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 31 recorded events — 68.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Franklin County?
4 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 3 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Franklin County?
11 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 72 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Franklin County, Washington 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
- Ferry County 84
- Garfield County 25
- Douglas County 50
- Grant County 82
- Cowlitz County 59
- Grays Harbor County 31
Cite this page
“Franklin County, Washington.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/washington/franklin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.