How Likely Is a Tornado in Franklin County, PA?
Franklin County, PA: what NOAA's tornado record says
Franklin County has recorded 15 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 5.1 years - our Moderate band. Put another way: Franklin County sees more tornado activity than 41% of US counties. Within Pennsylvania alone, Franklin County ranks 32 of 67 counties for tornado frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
13 weak and 2 significant tornadoes make up Franklin County's 15-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Franklin County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. Pennsylvania has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for Pennsylvania this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
The storm that misses Franklin County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Pennsylvania are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Franklin County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 772 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Franklin County has about 159,285 residents.