NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jena, LA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
25 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Jena, Louisiana since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 77 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 22
- Tornadoes
- 77
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
13 deaths in all
What the records show for Jena
The strongest storm to pass near Jena was an unnamed storm in 1909, a Category 1 hurricane with 84 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. The record near Jena begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 73 miles away. Of the 25 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 71% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Jena. The strongest of the 77 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on December 3, 1953; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 9 people. Of the 77, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 47 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 26, 2025. Of the 245 Louisiana cities, 92% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Jena. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 39 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 245 Louisiana cities, 53% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Jena.
Compare Jena's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Jena
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaAug 30 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 61 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | overhead | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | GustavSep 2 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2007 | HumbertoSep 13 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2002 | LiliOct 3 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1992 | AndrewAug 26 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | ElenaSep 3 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | DannyAug 16 | overhead | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 10 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 20 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1931 | Unnamed 1931 stormJul 16 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormAug 26 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 27 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 29 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 21 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 66 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 15 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormAug 12 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Jena: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Jena
By decade
- 2020s5(1 EF3+)
- 2010s20
- 2000s22(1 EF3+)
- 1990s11
- 1980s8(1 EF3+)
- 1970s3
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 3, 1953 | F4 | 16 mi | 85.5 mi | 9 / 50 |
| Nov 23, 2004 | F3 | 17 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 20 |
| May 19, 1983 | F3 | 18 mi | 12 mi | 1 / 35 |
| Nov 29, 2022 | EF3 | 22 mi | 7.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 29, 1969 | F3 | 20 mi | 29.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jan 6, 1951 | F3 | 18 mi | 16.8 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Oct 23, 1957 | F2 | 22 mi | 18.3 mi | 1 / 1 |
| May 2, 1950 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Oct 31, 2018 | EF2 | 4 mi | 37.89 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 2, 2017 | EF2 | 8 mi | 13.77 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 2, 2017 | EF2 | 7 mi | 1.09 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 2017 | EF2 | 4 mi | 13.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 77, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Jena
The Storm Prediction Center has 39 hail reports within 10 miles of Jena since 1974, made on 35 separate days. Of these, 19 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on March 7, 1998. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. March has the most reports, 13.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Jena
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Jena, LA, 2 miles north of Jena at 143 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 57°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 59.5 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (27.0 of 59.5 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 25 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 3.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 83 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 42 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 59.5 inches is more than at 31 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (38%). Jonesville, 16 miles east, has its own station (Jonesville Locks, LA): 59.6 inches a year, 0.1 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 36 | 5.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 62 | 40 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Mar | 69 | 47 | 5.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 76 | 53 | 5.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 83 | 62 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 69 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 72 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 71 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 88 | 65 | 3.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 78 | 54 | 4.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 67 | 44 | 5.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 59 | 38 | 5.8 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Year | 76 | 54 | 59.5 | 72 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Jena, LA (143 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Jena
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 91 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jena: 68 thunderstorm wind reports and 23 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 27, 2004. October has had the most flash floods, 6 of 23. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 162 have had fewer than Jena.
June 16, 2023: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Jena — $500,000 damage.
March 28, 2014: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Jena — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Roofs were damaged on several homes in the Jena community. These homes were either damaged from fallen trees or from direct wind damage.”
May 25, 2015: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Jena — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous trees and powerlines were downed in the Jena community. Several of these homes suffered damage from fallen trees.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Jena's ZIP code 71342 have filed 132 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1991: 18 claims (14% of all) and $136,000. 18% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 219 Louisiana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 89 have fewer than Jena.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1991 | 18 | $136,000 |
LaSalle Parish, which includes Jena, has been named in 38 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 hurricanes, 9 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Ida, on August 29, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives LaSalle Parish a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.0 million a year, the 58th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.6 million (52%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Jena
- Olla, LA15 mi
- Jonesville, LA16 mi
- Pollock, LA18 mi
- Deville, LA20 mi
- Ball, LA23 mi
- Dry Prong, LA26 mi
- Grayson, LA26 mi
- Pineville, LA26 mi
- Wisner, LA32 mi
- Alexandria, LA32 mi
- Columbia, LA33 mi
- Colfax, LA34 mi
All Louisiana cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Jena with another place →