Tree service in Franklin County, Washington

Storm records for Franklin County

Franklin County sits near the bottom of Washington’s storm table, 35th of 39 counties with 52 NOAA reports from 2016 on. Storms are rarer here, so most tree jobs are planned: an irrigated shade tree that has outgrown the lot, a dying windbreak, a limb hanging over the roof.

Wind is the hazard that does show up. High wind accounts for 21 reports, wildfire 11, heavy snow 9 and thunderstorm wind 4, with ice storm and blizzard at 2 each. February (10) and December (8) are the peak months, and 54 percent of reports fall between November and February.

The record has also thinned sharply. NOAA logged 6 reports in 2023 through 2025 against 19 in 2020 through 2022, a drop of more than two thirds, and 2023 had just one. Quiet years still carry risk: the county’s storm record includes one death and five injuries.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Lower Columbia Basin of Washington.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2016 to June 2026 · NWS zone-county correlation files (2019 to 2026 versions). Checked 2026-10-02. NOAA Storm Events 2016-2026; zone-based events assigned to every county the NWS zone covers using the zone-county correlation file in force on the event date (2019-04-02 file used for 2016-2018).

Hazard ratings

Strong wind: Relatively LowIce storm: Relatively ModerateWinter weather: Relatively LowWildfire: Relatively Low

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates Franklin County Relatively Low overall, Relatively Low for strong wind, winter weather and wildfire, and Relatively Moderate for ice storm. Ice is the one to note: its score of 78.6 is the highest of the four, and a glaze of freezing rain loads every limb at once.

Wildfire risk to homes is above 58 percent of Washington counties, middling for the state. For tree work that points to shortening heavy, low-angled limbs on shade trees before winter and keeping dry brush and dead trees away from buildings on rural lots.

Wildfire risk to homes: higher than 58% of Washington counties (USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities).

What to do about wildfire exposure: defensible space in Washington and Oregon.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release · USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities (April 2026 download). Checked 2026-10-02.

Burning the debris

The Washington Department of Ecology sets outdoor-burning rules for Franklin County; there is no local clean air agency here. Under WAC 173-425-040, residential and land-clearing burning is banned in urban growth areas and in cities over 10,000, which takes in Pasco at 82,848 people. Connell is well under that size, but its urban growth area status decides. Where burning is allowed, WAC 173-425-050 requires approved materials only, someone in attendance and a 50-foot setback, so removal debris in Pasco goes to chipping or hauling.

Full rules, seasons and alternatives: yard debris burning rules in Washington.

Source: Washington Department of Ecology. Checked 2026-10-02.

Power lines and utilities

Franklin PUD’s outage line is (509) 542-5300. The PUD maintains its primary lines only; the secondary service running to your house is the customer’s responsibility, so a limb rubbing that last span is yours to deal with, and it calls for a line-clearance qualified crew rather than a ladder and a pole saw. Read the power line removal guide before booking.

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; WAC 296-24-960 (WA L&I). Checked 2026-10-02.

Cities and towns in Franklin County

Pasco holds 82,848 of the county’s 102,612 people, about four in five, and the city has no tree-removal permit rule on record, so a tree on private property in Pasco can generally come down without a city permit. Connell, with 5,441, has not been researched yet; ask city hall. Boundary trees are a separate question, covered in the Washington neighbor tree law guide. The county grew 6.06 percent between 2020 and 2025.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Vintage 2025 and 2020 Census. Checked 2026-10-02. Permit rules from each city’s code; see the city pages.

Labor index

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in Washington at $32.20 an hour, and with no county estimate published, that statewide figure is used here. It is a wage, not a price; the modeled range below adds the truck, chipper and overhead.

Census County Business Patterns counted 51 landscaping-services establishments in Franklin County in 2023, enough that planned work can usually draw more than one bid.

Washington statewide: $32.20 per hour mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners (BLS, May 2025); no metro estimate is published, so the statewide figure is shown. This is a labor index, not a price; the modeled crew-hour cost used on this site is $210 (method).

51 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Franklin County in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 561730).

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013 · U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 561730. Checked 2026-10-02.

Climate and growing conditions

All of Franklin County falls in USDA hardiness zone 7a, which leaves a wide choice of replacement trees. Wind and water limit you more than cold. Plant species that hold up in high wind, the county’s top storm type at 21 reports, water deeply through the first summers, and skip brittle fast growers that shed limbs in the kind of spring gale NOAA recorded in April 2018.

USDA hardiness zone 7a (2023 map, by ZIP code).

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (OSU PRISM ZIP data). Checked 2026-10-02.

Nearby counties

• Walla Walla County121 storm reports since 2016
• Benton County57 storm reports since 2016
• Adams County120 storm reports since 2016
• Columbia County69 storm reports since 2016
• Grant County151 storm reports since 2016

What to do next

For most Franklin County jobs the order is simple: get a leaning or dead tree a risk assessment, check with Connell city hall if you live there, and keep Franklin PUD’s number handy if a line is involved. Compare bids against the modeled cost range and look the company up in the Washington license lookup.

Services: tree removal · trimming · stump grinding · emergency. Check any company: Washington license lookup.

Major storms that reached Franklin County

These regional storms produced NOAA Storm Events reports in Franklin County since 2016. Each storm page lists the dates, report counts and the other counties hit.

• December 2022 ice storm and windstorm
• January 2021 windstorm
• May 30, 2020 thunderstorm outbreak
• January 2017 ice storm