NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Minden, 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
13 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Minden, Louisiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Laura in 2020. Since 1950, 127 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 13
- Tornadoes
- 127
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
48 deaths in all
What the records show for Minden
None of the 13 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Minden; the strongest was Laura in 2020, a tropical storm with 68 mph winds when its centre passed 20 miles away. The record near Minden begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Laura in 2020. The 1940s and the 2010s were the busiest decades, with 2 systems each. Of the 13 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 96% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Minden. The highest rating among the 127 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 3, 1999, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 12, 1950, killed 18 people. Of the 127, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 56 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 48. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2025. Minden has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 53% of the 245 Louisiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 102 times since 1955, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Minden has more hail reports within 10 miles than 88% of the 245 Louisiana cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Minden
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | BarryJul 14 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2005 | RitaSep 25 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 10 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 20 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 7 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | overhead | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Minden: 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 Minden
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s15
- 2000s20
- 1990s19(3 EF3+)
- 1980s20(2 EF3+)
- 1970s16(3 EF3+)
- 1960s7(2 EF3+)
- 1950s9(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 12, 1950 | F4 | 13 mi | 82.6 mi | 18 / 77 |
| Apr 3, 1999 | F4 | 20 mi | 19.3 mi | 7 / 102 |
| Dec 3, 1978 | F4 | 23 mi | 6.2 mi | 2 / 266 |
| Feb 12, 1950 | F3 | 16 mi | 74.5 mi | 5 / 25 |
| Jan 22, 1957 | F3 | 13 mi | 1.7 mi | 3 / 9 |
| Dec 3, 1978 | F3 | 8 mi | 60 mi | 2 / 4 |
| Apr 3, 1999 | F3 | 12 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 3, 1992 | F3 | 17 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 2, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 61 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Apr 25, 1982 | F3 | in town | 23 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 3, 1978 | F3 | 10 mi | 61.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 11, 1965 | F3 | 22 mi | 33 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 127, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Minden
The Storm Prediction Center has 102 hail reports within 10 miles of Minden since 1955, made on 87 separate days. Of these, 68 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 24, 2010. The most recent report is from March 23, 2025. April has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Minden
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Minden, LA, 2 miles south of Minden at 185 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 58°F and 34°F. April is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 57.7 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 43% of the year's precipitation (24.6 of 57.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 13 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 87 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 52 nights a year. That 57.7 inches is more than at 19 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (23%). Princeton, 13 miles west, has its own station (Benton 5E, LA): 54.0 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 34 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Feb | 62 | 37 | 5.0 | 7 |
| Mar | 70 | 44 | 5.7 | 7 |
| Apr | 77 | 52 | 6.5 | 6 |
| May | 84 | 62 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Jun | 91 | 70 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Jul | 94 | 73 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 95 | 72 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Sep | 89 | 65 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Oct | 79 | 53 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Nov | 68 | 43 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Dec | 60 | 36 | 5.7 | 7 |
| Year | 77 | 53 | 57.7 | 73 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Minden, LA (185 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 Minden
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 130 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Minden: 105 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 3 floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on January 11, 2020. March has had the most flash floods, 9 of 19. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 140 have had fewer than Minden.
December 30, 2002: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Minden — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “A line of severe thunderstorms moved across the Parish during the evening producing high winds that caused a tree to fall on a truck, killing one man and injuring one female. Many trees were reported down across the area due to the high winds.”
April 5, 2022: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Minden — 1 killed.
NWS: “A tree was blown down across Highway 79 just north of Grider Road northeast of Minden. A motorist was killed when the vehicle he was driving struck this fallen tree.”
October 14, 2009: flood 9 miles from the centre of Minden — $1.5 million 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 Minden's ZIP code 71055 have filed 44 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $853,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late winter severe storms in 2016: 17 claims (39% of all) and $604,000. 59% 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, 36 have fewer than Minden.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late winter severe storms2016 | 17 | $604,000 |
Webster Parish, which includes Minden, has been named in 37 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 hurricanes, 5 severe storms, 4 floods, 3 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 18, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Webster Parish a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.8 million a year, the 34th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.7 million (38%), 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 Minden
- Sibley, LA7 mi
- Doyline, LA12 mi
- Princeton, LA13 mi
- Heflin, LA14 mi
- Haughton, LA16 mi
- Homer, LA18 mi
- Barksdale Afb, LA22 mi
- Sarepta, LA22 mi
- Arcadia, LA22 mi
- Ringgold, LA23 mi
- Benton, LA24 mi
- Haynesville, LA25 mi
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