Louisiana severe thunderstorm wind

Every recorded severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955 · 64 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 12,655 severe thunderstorm wind events in Louisiana from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 286 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the May 21, 1985 thunderstorm wind: 4 deaths and 9 injuries across 7 records. Louisiana ranks 26th of 52 states and territories by count and 26th of 51 per square mile.

Severe thunderstorm wind in Louisiana, 1955 to 2026

Thunderstorm wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.

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
1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996

Records: 12,6551955 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000: 286average
Deaths: 46316 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $1.3Bas filed
Busiest year: 1995579 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 severe thunderstorm wind events common in Louisiana?

Louisiana averages about 286 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 26th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1995 (579). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Louisiana records 2929 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 26th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, 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 severe thunderstorm wind events?

Per square mile, Orleans Parish leads Louisiana: 150 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 885.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Caddo Parish has the most thunderstorm wind records (827 since 1955); 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).

Orleans Parish 885.0 (187)
Caddo Parish 486.6 (827)
Jefferson Parish 475.3 (227)
East Baton Rouge Parish 439.1 (298)
Lafayette Parish 435.2 (145)
Webster Parish 396.1 (328)
West Carroll Parish 392.0 (180)
Ouachita Parish 381.7 (380)
Bossier Parish 357.3 (466)
East Carroll Parish 354.0 (170)
St. Charles Parish 349.2 (121)
Lincoln Parish 347.7 (232)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is the severe thunderstorm season in Louisiana?

Louisiana's severe thunderstorm wind events by month. The busiest month is April (2,035 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 595 · Feb 686 · Mar 1,270 · Apr 2,035 · May 2,019 · Jun 1,627 · Jul 1,290 · Aug 989 · Sep 328 · Oct 505 · Nov 727 · Dec 584 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.

What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Louisiana?

Louisiana: the storms with the most deaths since 1955
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
1985-05-21	Thunderstorm WindJefferson Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (7, in 5 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		4	9	–
2012-07-20	Thunderstorm WindLake Charles Lake, Calcasieu Parish One storm episode: 3 records; the totals are the episode's. A microburst affects one location and then lines of severe storms affect Southwest Louisiana two days in a row during late July. A pair of hot and humid days both gave way to lines of thunderstorms late in the day. The storms produced many reports of down trees, down power lines, and a pair of tornadoes.	50 kt wind	4	0	$1.2M
2017-05-28	Thunderstorm WindTrenton, De Soto Parish One storm episode: 15 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. Overnight showers and thunderstorms which held together into the morning hours of Sunday May 28th, moved into Northern Louisiana from the northwest during the morning hours after daybreak. Isolated severe thunderstorms developed near Bossier City during the mid-morning hours, producing numerous reports of penny to ...	61 kt wind	3	4	–
1993-04-14	Thunderstorm WindNegreet, Sabine Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (5, in 3 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		2	4	$3.3M
2024-05-28	Thunderstorm WindToro, Sabine Parish Severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at near 70 mph resulted in a fishing barge capsizing near the Pirates Cove area along Toledo Bend Lake. Two of the six occupants inside the fishing barge became trapped under the barge and drowned.	61 kt wind	2	0	–
2024-04-10	Thunderstorm WindEsler Airport Alxn, Rapides Parish One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong upper low moved across the region and interacted with a frontal boundary that was moving south across the area. Flooding, high wind gusts, hail, and tornadoes occurred in Louisiana as a result of this system.	50 kt wind	1	4	$14K
1991-04-28	Thunderstorm WindCaddo Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (3, in 3 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		1	4	–
1992-06-13	Thunderstorm WindSt. Martin Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		1	3	–
1991-04-12	Thunderstorm WindCaddo Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (3, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		1	3	–
1987-07-26	Thunderstorm WindSt. Tammany Parish		1	3	–

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 severe thunderstorm wind events in Louisiana

Louisiana: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2009-05-10	Thunderstorm WindShelburn, East Carroll Parish	70 kt wind	0	0	$963M
1997-04-22	Thunderstorm WindNorth Shreveport, Caddo Parish		0	0	$18M
1993-04-04	Thunderstorm WindZachary, East Baton Rouge Parish Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.		0	0	$11M
1998-08-02	Thunderstorm WindCharenton, St. Mary Parish		0	0	$11M
1998-02-10	Thunderstorm WindCoushatta, Red River Parish		0	0	$11M
2009-05-03	Thunderstorm WindLoring, Sabine Parish One storm episode: 12 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's.	80 kt wind	1	2	$10M
1998-02-10	Thunderstorm WindConverse, Sabine Parish		0	0	$9.1M
1998-02-10	Thunderstorm WindMansfield, De Soto Parish		0	3	$7.2M

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

Are severe thunderstorm wind events 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.

Severe thunderstorm wind: Louisiana and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
Decade	Louisiana	United States	Louisiana's share
1955-59	58	3,482	1.7%
1960s	229	10,124	2.3%
1970s	587	18,714	3.1%
1980s	1,318	39,604	3.3%
1990s	2,815	85,554	3.3%
2000s	2,739	129,990	2.1%
2010s	2,718	161,286	1.7%
2020-26	2,191	126,815	1.7%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in Louisiana

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
Date	Record	Character	Damage
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindShongaloo, Webster Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindAntrim, Bossier Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindWardview, Bossier Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindHosston, Caddo Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindHosston, Caddo Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-23	Thunderstorm WindVivian, Caddo Parish	52 kt wind	–
2026-06-19	Thunderstorm WindLecompte, Rapides Parish	50 kt wind	$2K
2026-06-18	Thunderstorm WindBush, St. Tammany Parish	50 kt wind	$15K
2026-06-18	Thunderstorm WindSt Tammany, St. Tammany Parish	50 kt wind	$1K
2026-06-02	Thunderstorm WindLongville, Beauregard Parish	50 kt wind	$1K
2026-06-02	Thunderstorm WindLivingston Parish	50 kt wind	$1K
2026-06-02	Thunderstorm WindShreveport, Caddo Parish	52 kt wind	–

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 severe thunderstorm wind events in Louisiana

FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 15 declarations in Louisiana, 15 of them major disasters; the latest on June 3, 2019.

The 12 most recent
Declared	Number	Title	Areas named
2019-06-03	DR-4439	Severe Storms and Tornadoes	3
2013-02-22	DR-4102	Severe Storms and Flooding	11
2009-12-10	DR-1863	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	11
2007-02-23	DR-1685	Severe Storms and Tornadoes	3
2006-11-02	DR-1668	Severe Storms and Flooding	24
2005-08-23	DR-1601	Tropical Storm Cindy	5
2004-06-08	DR-1521	Severe Storms and Flooding	9
1999-04-09	DR-1269	Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding	5
1999-01-21	DR-1264	Severe Ice Storm	18
1997-03-18	DR-1169	Severe Winter Storm	3
1995-05-10	DR-1049	Severe Storms and Flooding	12
1994-02-28	DR-1012	Severe Winter Ice Storm	8

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