Franklin County tornado history

30 tornadoes touched Franklin County, Kansas between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.4 a year. The strongest was rated F5 (May 20, 1957). Tornadoes here killed 44 and injured 210 people.

30tornadoes since 1950

F5strongest rating

44killed · 210 injured

69.4 milongest path · 1957

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F010

(E)F110

(E)F27

(E)F32

(E)F40

(E)F51

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: May.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
May 20, 1957	F5	69.4 mi	440 yd	207	44
Apr 16, 1960	F3	9.2 mi	77 yd	0	0
May 20, 1957	F3	5.6 mi	10 yd	0	0
May 27, 1955	F2	27 mi	10 yd	0	0
May 31, 1958	F2	4.3 mi	10 yd	0	0
Jul 2, 1956	F2	3 mi	10 yd	0	0
May 31, 1958	F2	1 mi	60 yd	0	0
Mar 24, 1954	F2	0.1 mi	10 yd	0	0
Nov 17, 1958	F2	0.1 mi	10 yd	0	0
Apr 22, 1964	F2	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	0
Jun 4, 1965	F1	26.8 mi	200 yd	0	0
Nov 11, 1982	F1	5 mi	100 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width
Mar 6, 2017	EF1	3 mi	50 yd
Feb 28, 2012	EF1	4.8 mi	100 yd
May 21, 2011	EF1	2.9 mi	100 yd
Jun 8, 2010	EF0	—	25 yd
Jun 20, 2009	EF0	0.3 mi	25 yd
Apr 24, 2003	F1	0.3 mi	80 yd
Apr 24, 2003	F0	0.1 mi	50 yd
May 6, 1993	F0	0.3 mi	30 yd
May 6, 1993	F0	0.3 mi	73 yd
Nov 11, 1982	F1	5 mi	100 yd
Jun 17, 1978	F0	0.1 mi	10 yd
Sep 20, 1965	F1	0.1 mi	10 yd

Deadliest: May 20, 1957, F5, 44 killed.

Nearby counties

Douglas County, KS43 Anderson County, KS15 Osage County, KS51 Miami County, KS23 Coffey County, KS26 Linn County, KS14 Johnson County, KS49 Shawnee County, KS59

Questions

How many tornadoes has Franklin County, Kansas had?

30 tornadoes touched Franklin County, Kansas between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.4 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Franklin County?

The strongest rating recorded was F5 on May 20, 1957, with a 69.4-mile path and 44 deaths.

When is tornado season in Franklin County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in May (9 of 30). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).