Lafourche Parish, Louisiana severe weather history spans 241 recorded events between 1960 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 49.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,170 nationally and #48 in Louisiana.
241
Recorded events
27
Direct deaths
197
Direct injuries
$13.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Lafourche Parish, Louisiana severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana severe weather history averages 3.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 70 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 48 events fall before 1990 and 193 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Lafourche Parish, Louisiana record is tornado, responsible for 23 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $7.7M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Lafourche Parish
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 118 | 1 | $1.1M | 90 | 1968–2025 |
| Tornado | 39 | 23 | $4.7M | F4 | 1960–2026 |
| Hail | 37 | 0 | $500 | 3.5 | 1973–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 21 | 1 | $7.7M | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2006 |
| Lightning | 6 | 1 | $245K | 0 | 2007–2016 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $40K | 0 | 1996–2000 |
| Heavy Rain | 4 | 0 | $25K | 0 | 2003–2021 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2001 |
| Rip Current | 1 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
45 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 44 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-10-03 | EF4 | 22 | 165 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-04-08 | EF2 | 3 | 39 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-09-10 | EF2 | 1 | 6 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-04-06 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-11-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-02-03 | EF2 | 0 | 8 | 4.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-01-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-06-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-04-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-04-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Lafourche Parish
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 1964 | Tornado | 22 | 165 | $2.5M | |
| Sep 10, 1998 | Tornado | CUT OFF | 1 | 6 | $500K |
| Mar 19, 2016 | Lightning | LAROSE | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Sep 22, 2002 | Rip Current | PORT FOURCHON | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 14, 2015 | Flash Flood | RACELAND | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 14, 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | KRAEMER | 1 | 0 | $20K |
| Feb 3, 1960 | Tornado | 0 | 8 | $250K | |
| Oct 16, 2006 | Tornado | LEEVILLE | 0 | 3 | $40K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A lightning strike at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose led to one fatality and two additional injuries. All three of the women had taken cover in a small personal tent. One dog was also killed by the lightning strike.
Large swells from Hurricane Isidore, located in the extreme southeast Gulf of Mexico, caused rip tide conditions along the southeast Louisiana coast. A group of people swimming off the beach at Port Fourchon were caught in a rip tide. A 41 year old man drowned.
As the north and northeastern eyewall stretched into an east-west oriented band of heavy rainfall, training storms resulted in widespread rainfall totals of 5-7 inches across the northern half of the parish. Radar estimates indicate locally higher totals of up to 10 inches may have fallen in some areas. Much of the rain fell within a short span of only a couple hours, resulting in widespread flash flooding throughout areas such as Thibodaux, Chackbay and Kraemer. Numerous roads became impassable, 30 homes flooded, and 26 residents were rescued from their flooded homes.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
96,252
Population (ACS)
$194K
Median home value
53
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Sep 16, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE FRANCINE | DR |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE | EM |
| Sep 13, 2021 | Coastal Storm | TROPICAL STORM NICHOLAS | EM |
| Aug 29, 2021 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IDA | DR |
| Aug 27, 2021 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM IDA | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana?
241 events are on record between 1960 and 2026, causing 27 direct deaths and $13.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Lafourche Parish?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 118 recorded events — 49.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Lafourche Parish?
45 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 44 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Lafourche Parish?
53 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Lafourche Parish, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Lafourche Parish compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lafourche Parish as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 91 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Lafourche Parish, Louisiana severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Lafayette Parish 345
- LaSalle Parish 247
- Jefferson Davis Parish 276
- Lincoln Parish 467
- Jefferson Parish 501
- Livingston Parish 383
Cite this page
“Lafourche Parish, Louisiana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/louisiana/lafourche-parish/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.