Louisiana extreme cold

Every recorded extreme cold record since 1996 · 64 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 276 extreme cold records in Louisiana from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 20 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the January 24, 2026 cold/wind chill: 7 deaths across 17 records. Louisiana ranks 38th of 51 states and territories by count and 41st of 50 per square mile.

Extreme cold in Louisiana, 1996 to 2026

Cold 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: 2761996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000: 20average
Deaths: 221 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $59Mas filed
Busiest year: 199659 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 extreme cold records common in Louisiana?

Louisiana averages about 20 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 38th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1996 (59). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Louisiana records 64 extreme cold records since 1996, 41st of 50 states and territories by that measure.

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 extreme cold records?

Per square mile, Orleans Parish leads Louisiana: 5 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 29.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Lafourche Parish has the most cold records (11 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).

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 the cold season in Louisiana?

81% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is January (177 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 177 · Feb 46 · Mar 4 · Apr 0 · May 1 · Jun 1 · Jul 3 · Aug 0 · Sep 0 · Oct 0 · Nov 0 · Dec 44 (records).

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

What were the deadliest extreme cold records in Louisiana?

Louisiana: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
Date	Record	Killed	Injured	Damage
2026-01-24	Cold/Wind ChillDe Soto Parish · forecast zone De Soto One storm episode: 17 records in 17 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong surge of Arctic air invaded Northern Louisiana during late January with bitterly cold temperatures and light northerly winds. In wake of the this Arctic air arriving on the evening of January 24th, overnight low temperatures plummeted into the teens and lower 20s by the morning on January 26th and again on ...	7	0	–
2014-01-07	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillSt. Landry Parish · forecast zone St. Landry One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong cold front swept through during the 5th with strong north winds behind the boundary pushing tides below normal and hindering ship traffic. Very cold temperatures also swept into South Louisiana behind the boundary. Two people were reported dead from exposure.	2	0	–
2025-01-22	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillOrleans Parish · forecast zone Eastern Orleans Parish One storm episode: 36 records in 22 places; the totals are the episode's. An Arctic airmass infiltrated the region on January 21st, resulting in widespread snowfall accumulations ranging from several inches to nearly one foot across Southeast Louisiana, southwestern Mississippi, and coastal Mississippi. The presence of this snowpack was a key contributor to significant nocturnal radiational ...	2	0	–
2008-01-03	Cold/Wind ChillOrleans Parish and St. Bernard Parish · forecast zone Orleans Two homeless people, a man and a woman, died during the early morning hours of January 4th due to hypothermia according to the Orleans Parish Coronors Office. The 48 year old woman was found dead around 0530 CST on a bench underneath the Crescent City Connection bridge. The 54 year old man was found dead a few hours ...	2	0	–
2018-01-17	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillPointe Coupee Parish · forecast zone Pointe Coupee In New Roads, One person died of hypothermia and another person was hospitalized when overnight temperatures dropped into the teens during early morning hours of Jan 17th. The elderly couple were disabled and were wheelchair bound. There was no heat in the house as they couple were afraid of using space heaters due to ...	1	1	–
2010-01-08	Cold/Wind ChillCalcasieu Parish · forecast zone Calcasieu Calcasieu Parish coroner's office reported a 71 year old Mossville man died of exposure to freezing temperatures on Friday, January 8. His body was not discovered until Monday, January 11, along the side of a parish road. KPLC-TV reported that Vinton and Carlyss had low water reserves in their respective city's water ...	1	0	$68K
2010-01-07	Cold/Wind ChillCaddo Parish · forecast zone Caddo One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. An arctic air mass moved southward out of the Central Plains and took up residence across all of southern Arkansas, southeast Oklahoma, northeast Texas as well as northwest Louisiana. This air mass was initially accompanied by strong north winds which resulted in wind chill advisories for the region as wind chill ...	1	0	$2.6M
2026-01-25	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillFranklin Parish · forecast zone Franklin One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places, 2026-01-25 to 2026-01-26; the totals are the episode's. A historically damaging ice storm occurred across northeast Louisiana and the surrounding region. The corridor of heaviest ice accretion, with ice thickness measured at up to one inch, spanned from Richland Parish, including the area from Rayville to Delhi, northeastward through West and East Carroll parishes and the ...	1	0	–
1997-01-07	Cold/Wind ChillWebster Parish · forecast zone Webster George Gantt died of hypothermia after being hospitalized from exposure. Temperatures were hovering near freezing when Gantt was found.	1	0	–
1996-02-02	Cold/Wind ChillJefferson Parish · forecast zone Upper Jefferson One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. An arctic airmass overspread much of SE Louisiana bringing the longest extended period of cold weather since 1989. A 77 year old woman died from hypothermia in Metairie, Jefferson Parish on the 4th. She slipped and fell at a construction site at the rear of a hospital, was unable to get assistance, and died of ...	1	0	$38M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest extreme cold records in Louisiana

Louisiana: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Killed	Damage
1996-02-02	Cold/Wind ChillJefferson Parish · forecast zone Upper Jefferson One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's.	1	$38M
1996-03-07	Cold/Wind ChillPointe Coupee Parish · forecast zone Pointe Coupee	0	$14M
2010-01-07	Cold/Wind ChillCaddo Parish · forecast zone Caddo One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's.	1	$2.6M
2010-01-01	Cold/Wind ChillMorehouse Parish · forecast zone Morehouse One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's.	0	$1.8M
1996-02-04	Cold/Wind ChillRapides Parish · forecast zone Rapides	0	$1.1M
2010-01-08	Cold/Wind ChillCalcasieu Parish · forecast zone Calcasieu	1	$68K

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

Are extreme cold 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.

Extreme cold: Louisiana and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
Decade	Louisiana	United States	Louisiana's share
1996-99	60	5,539	1.1%
2000s	1	14,792	0.0%
2010s	67	18,162	0.4%
2020-26	148	15,329	1.0%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent extreme cold records in Louisiana

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
Date	Record	Damage
2026-06-01	Cold/Wind ChillConcordia Parish · forecast zone Concordia	–
2026-05-01	Cold/Wind ChillConcordia Parish · forecast zone Concordia	–
2026-03-15	Cold/Wind ChillWest Carroll Parish · forecast zone West Carroll	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillOrleans Parish · forecast zone Western Orleans Parish	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillAscension Parish · forecast zone Western Ascension Parish	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWest Feliciana Parish · forecast zone West Feliciana	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWest Baton Rouge Parish · forecast zone West Baton Rouge	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWashington Parish · forecast zone Washington	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillTerrebonne Parish · forecast zone Upper Terrebonne	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillLafourche Parish · forecast zone Upper Lafourche	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillJefferson Parish · forecast zone Upper Jefferson Parish	–
2026-01-27	Extreme Cold/Wind ChillSt. John the Baptist Parish · forecast zone St. John The Baptist	–

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.

Federal disaster declarations for extreme cold records in Louisiana

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Louisiana for extreme cold, counting its incident type and declarations that name freez in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on February 22, 1977.

The 12 most recent
Declared	Number	Title	Areas named
1977-02-22	EM-3031	Drought & Freezing	34

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.