NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Leesville, 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
31 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Leesville, Louisiana since 1851, 4 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Delta in 2020. Since 1950, 95 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 4
- Tropical storms
- 27
- Tornadoes
- 95
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Leesville
The strongest storm to pass near Leesville was Laura in 2020, a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds when its centre passed 4 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Audrey in 1957, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Leesville begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Delta in 2020, a tropical storm 48 miles away. The 2000s and the 2010s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 31 systems, 10 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 69% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Leesville. The strongest of the 95 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on December 3, 1953; its path came within 12 miles, and it killed 9 people. Of the 95, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 55 have come since 2000. November has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on March 4, 2025. Of the 245 Louisiana cities, 78% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Leesville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 52 times since 1965, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Leesville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 59% of the 245 Louisiana cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Leesville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 4 mi | Category 2 (100 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | BarryJul 14 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2017 | HarveyAug 30 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2017 | CindyJun 22 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | GustavSep 2 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2007 | HumbertoSep 13 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2005 | RitaSep 24 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2002 | LiliOct 3 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | DannyAug 15 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1982 | ChrisSep 11 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1979 | ClaudetteJul 25 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1974 | CarmenSep 8 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1973 | Unnamed 1973 stormSep 12 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 27 | overhead | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1955 | Unnamed 1955 stormAug 27 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | BarbaraJul 29 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 20 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormSep 24 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormAug 15 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormAug 27 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1918 | Unnamed 1918 stormAug 6 | 44 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormAug 1 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 20 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 27 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 15 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 18 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Leesville: 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 Leesville
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s23(1 EF3+)
- 2000s16
- 1990s16
- 1980s4
- 1970s13
- 1960s3
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 3, 1953 | F4 | 12 mi | 85.5 mi | 9 / 50 |
| Dec 16, 2019 | EF3 | 15 mi | 62.61 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1975 | F2 | 15 mi | 14.8 mi | 2 / 8 |
| Mar 22, 1953 | F2 | 2 mi | 234.7 mi | 2 / 22 |
| Jan 9, 2022 | EF2 | 20 mi | 3.56 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 22, 2020 | EF2 | 12 mi | 36.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 23, 2004 | F2 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 23, 2004 | F2 | 16 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Nov 26, 2003 | F2 | 17 mi | 18 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Nov 17, 2003 | F2 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 2, 1999 | F2 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 21, 1992 | F2 | 7 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 95, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Leesville
The Storm Prediction Center has 52 hail reports within 10 miles of Leesville since 1965, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on April 4, 1999. The most recent report is from February 11, 2024. March has the most reports, 14.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Leesville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Leesville, LA, in Leesville at 28 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 60°F and 37°F. January and December are the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 4.2 inches; the year adds up to 59.4 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 47% of the year's precipitation (27.9 of 59.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 31 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (12); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 95 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 39 nights a year. That 59.4 inches is more than at 30 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (37%). Anacoco, 13 miles northwest, has its own station (Toledo Bend Dam, TX): 55.7 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 37 | 5.6 | 7 |
| Feb | 65 | 41 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Mar | 72 | 48 | 5.5 | 6 |
| Apr | 78 | 54 | 5.4 | 5 |
| May | 85 | 62 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Jun | 91 | 68 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Jul | 93 | 71 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Aug | 94 | 70 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Sep | 89 | 65 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Oct | 80 | 54 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Nov | 69 | 45 | 5.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 61 | 39 | 5.6 | 7 |
| Year | 78 | 54 | 59.4 | 75 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Leesville, LA (28 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 Leesville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 76 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Leesville: 61 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 2 floods, 2 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on December 28, 2024. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 74 have had fewer than Leesville.
August 13, 2016: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Leesville — 1 killed, 1 injured, $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Flooding was reported along roadways near Clifton. Some roadways became impassable during early morning hours near the Calcasieu River.”
March 10, 2000: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Leesville — $2.0 million damage.
February 10, 1998: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Leesville — $200,000 damage.
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 Leesville's ZIP code 71446 have filed 228 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $5.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late winter severe storms in 2016: 22 claims (10% of all) and $1.0 million, then Hurricane Andrew in 1992 with 17. The year with the most claims was 2012, with 28. 43% 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, 109 have fewer than Leesville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late winter severe storms2016 | 22 | $1.0 million |
| Hurricane Andrew1992 | 17 | $136,000 |
Vernon Parish, which includes Leesville, has been named in 39 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 19 hurricanes, 4 fires, 4 floods, 3 coastal storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Ida, on August 29, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Vernon Parish a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $21.6 million a year, the 31st highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.9 million (41%), 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 Leesville
- New Llano, LA4 mi
- Fort Polk, LA5 mi
- Anacoco, LA13 mi
- Deridder, LA21 mi
- Pitkin, LA22 mi
- Florien, LA22 mi
- Many, LA32 mi
- Hemphill, TX34 mi
- Boyce, LA35 mi
- Merryville, LA37 mi
- Glenmora, LA37 mi
- Longville, LA37 mi
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