NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Monroe, 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
19 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Monroe, Louisiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Delta in 2020. Since 1950, 128 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 19
- Tornadoes
- 128
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Monroe
None of the 19 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Monroe; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1909, a tropical storm with 72 mph winds when its centre passed 29 miles away. The record near Monroe begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Delta in 2020, a tropical storm 34 miles away. Of the 19 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 80% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Monroe. The strongest of the 128 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 1, 1983; its path came within 10 miles, and it killed 2 people. The deadliest, an F3 on November 24, 2001, killed 3 people. Of the 128, 15 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 57 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 44. The most recent tornado was on May 11, 2023. Monroe has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 245 Louisiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 158 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Monroe has more hail reports within 10 miles than 97% of the 245 Louisiana cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Monroe
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2002 | LiliOct 4 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | ElenaSep 3 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | DannyAug 16 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 10 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 21 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 7 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 73 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 Monroe: 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 Monroe
By decade
- 2020s14(2 EF3+)
- 2010s29
- 2000s14(1 EF3+)
- 1990s13
- 1980s19(3 EF3+)
- 1970s22(1 EF3+)
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s9(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 1983 | F4 | 10 mi | 9 mi | 2 / 20 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F3 | 23 mi | 30 mi | 3 / 11 |
| Jan 18, 1973 | F3 | 17 mi | 38 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Apr 12, 2020 | EF3 | 8 mi | 2.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 2020 | EF3 | in town | 8.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1983 | F3 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 1, 1983 | F3 | 24 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 1, 1968 | F3 | 8 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1953 | F3 | 19 mi | 41.6 mi | 0 / 17 |
| Mar 22, 1953 | F2 | 10 mi | 234.7 mi | 2 / 22 |
| Jan 2, 2023 | EF2 | 20 mi | 3.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 2014 | EF2 | 2 mi | 9.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 128, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Monroe
The Storm Prediction Center has 158 hail reports within 10 miles of Monroe since 1959, made on 104 separate days. Of these, 104 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 4, 1989. The most recent report is from May 2, 2025. April has the most reports, 52.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Monroe
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Monroe Regional Airport, LA, 2 miles east of Monroe at 79 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 57°F and 37°F. April is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and August and September the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 55.3 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (24.8 of 55.3 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 19 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 3.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 97 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 33 nights a year. That 55.3 inches is more than at 8 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (10%). Sterlington, 13 miles north, has its own station (Bastrop, LA): 58.3 inches a year, 3.0 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 37 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Feb | 61 | 40 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Mar | 69 | 47 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Apr | 77 | 54 | 5.8 | 6 |
| May | 84 | 63 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Jun | 91 | 70 | 4.5 | 7 |
| Jul | 93 | 73 | 3.9 | 6 |
| Aug | 94 | 71 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Sep | 89 | 66 | 3.6 | 4 |
| Oct | 79 | 54 | 5.0 | 5 |
| Nov | 67 | 44 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Dec | 59 | 39 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Year | 77 | 55 | 55.3 | 70 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Monroe Regional Airport, LA (79 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 Monroe
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 283 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Monroe: 185 thunderstorm wind reports, 83 flash floods, 9 floods, 4 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $17.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on May 27, 1997. April has had the most flash floods, 25 of 83. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 221 have had fewer than Monroe.
April 27, 2011: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Monroe — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “A 45 year old man drove his automobile into a flooded intersection at Arizona Street and East Street. He was later found by 2 people drowned in his vehicle.”
April 27, 2011: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Monroe — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
April 13, 2019: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Monroe — 1 killed.
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 Monroe's 3 ZIP codes have filed 5,528 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $128.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1991: 2,271 claims (41% of all) and $26.1 million, then Late winter severe storms in 2016 with 1,500 and Hurricane Gustav in 2008 with 301. The year with the most claims was 2016, with 1,553. 75% 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, 205 have fewer than Monroe.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1991 | 2,271 | $26.1 million |
| Late winter severe storms2016 | 1,500 | $76.9 million |
| Hurricane Gustav2008 | 301 | $6.5 million |
| Mid-spring storms2011 | 11 | $9,473 |
| Hurricane Ike2008 | 10 | $125,000 |
Ouachita Parish, which includes Monroe, has been named in 44 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 20 hurricanes, 7 floods, 5 severe storms, 3 coastal storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 18, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Ouachita Parish a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $50.3 million a year, the 17th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $21.7 million (43%), 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 Monroe
- West Monroe, LA6 mi
- Sterlington, LA13 mi
- Calhoun, LA16 mi
- Rayville, LA17 mi
- Downsville, LA19 mi
- Eros, LA20 mi
- Bastrop, LA23 mi
- Choudrant, LA24 mi
- Farmerville, LA25 mi
- Columbia, LA26 mi
- Marion, LA27 mi
- Winnsboro, LA32 mi
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