Winn Parish, Louisiana

What hazards hit Winn Parish most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 229 since 1963. The rank column places the county among Louisiana's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Winn Parish had?

NOAA records 43 tornadoes in Winn Parish from 1950 to 2022, the strongest rated EF4, with 2 deaths and 39 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 44 tornadoes whose track touched Winn Parish since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 43: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 3 people, 2 of them in Winn Parish.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Louisiana.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Winn Parish?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 28, 2018 tornado ($235,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This is a continuation of the EF-1 tornado from Natchitoches Parish. This tornado intensified shortly after crossing into Winn Parish along Highway 84, where it caused considerable tree damage in the Kisatchie National Forest before the tornado started to take a more northeasterly turn near the southern sections of Saline Lake. The tornado began to parallel Lakeshore Drive northeastward where it uprooted and split several hardwood trees along Lakeshore Drive and Mulligan Inn Loop. Several homes along the east bank of Saline Lake received structural damage from trees falling onto the homes. In this area, the tornado was at its strongest near 105 mph and reached its greatest width. The tornado continued northeastward causing sporadic tree damage along Saline Lake Road before it lifted near the vicinity of Coldwater Road just southwest of the community of Calvin.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 741401)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Winn Parish's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Winn Parish. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Winn Parish

FEMA's register lists 33 declarations that include Winn Parish: 18 major disasters, 15 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (15) and flood (4).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Winn Parish had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 44 flood or flash flood records for Winn Parish from 1996 to 2026, on 31 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Winn Parish ranks 1132nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.4 million on 140 claims filed in Winn Parish; the most in one year was 43 in 1991. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Winn Parish

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Winn Parish Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $5.8 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Winn Parish

1. Natchitoches Parish 903
2. Bienville Parish 673
3. Winn Parish 594
4. Jackson Parish 519
5. Grant Parish 515
6. Caldwell Parish 421
7. LaSalle Parish 415

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in LouisianaEvery Louisiana tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in LouisianaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Louisiana recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Winn ParishThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Winn Parish's FEMA declarations (CSV)33 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis