PlainHazard

Louisiana drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 64 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,418 drought records in Louisiana from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 62 a year since 2000. The costliest was the December 1, 2000 drought ($251 million in 2025 dollars). Louisiana ranks 21st of 51 states and territories by count and 19th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Louisiana, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
1,4181996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
62average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$1.0Bas filed
Busiest year
2023307 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Louisiana?

Louisiana averages about 62 drought records a year since 2000, 21st of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2023 (307). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Louisiana records 328 drought records since 1996, 19th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 19. Louisiana 328

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Louisiana have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Red River Parish leads Louisiana: 46 days with a drought record since 1996, 118.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Union Parish has the most drought records (68 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Red River Parish 118.3 (46)
  2. Lincoln Parish 93.3 (44)
  3. Webster Parish 84.3 (50)
  4. Caldwell Parish 83.1 (44)
  5. Jackson Parish 77.3 (44)
  6. Ouachita Parish 72.1 (44)
  7. Bossier Parish 66.7 (56)
  8. LaSalle Parish 65.6 (41)
  9. Claiborne Parish 64.9 (49)
  10. Caddo Parish 64.8 (57)
  11. Grant Parish 62.1 (40)
  12. Bienville Parish 60.4 (49)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Louisiana?

Louisiana's drought records by month. The busiest month is December (182 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 93 · Feb 113 · Mar 83 · Apr 38 · May 71 · Jun 100 · Jul 88 · Aug 153 · Sep 138 · Oct 179 · Nov 180 · Dec 182 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Louisiana

Louisiana: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2000-12-01 DroughtVermilion Parish · forecast zone Vermilion One storm episode: 14 records in 14 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $251M
1998-08-01 DroughtSt. Landry Parish · forecast zone St. Landry One storm episode: 13 records in 13 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $250M
2000-08-01 DroughtCaddo Parish · forecast zone Caddo 0 0 $171M
1998-08-01 DroughtPointe Coupee Parish · forecast zone Pointe Coupee One storm episode: 18 records in 17 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $133M
2000-12-01 DroughtAssumption Parish · forecast zone Assumption One storm episode: 17 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $126M
1998-06-01 DroughtWinn Parish · forecast zone Winn 0 0 $27M
1996-05-01 DroughtCaddo Parish · forecast zone Caddo 0 0 $7.5M
2023-09-01 DroughtFranklin Parish · forecast zone Franklin One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $6.8M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Louisiana?

Louisiana's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Louisiana and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeLouisianaUnited StatesLouisiana's share
1996-991565,6002.8%
2000s7618,5710.4%
2010s56631,4411.8%
2020-2662030,1472.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Louisiana

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtWest Carroll Parish · forecast zone West Carroll 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtTensas Parish · forecast zone Tensas 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRichland Parish · forecast zone Richland 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMorehouse Parish · forecast zone Morehouse 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMadison Parish · forecast zone Madison 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtFranklin Parish · forecast zone Franklin 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtEast Carroll Parish · forecast zone East Carroll 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCatahoula Parish · forecast zone Catahoula 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLaSalle Parish · forecast zone La Salle 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCaldwell Parish · forecast zone Caldwell 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrant Parish · forecast zone Grant 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWinn Parish · forecast zone Winn 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

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