NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Opelousas, 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
42 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Opelousas, Louisiana since 1851, 12 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Delta in 2020. Since 1950, 179 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 12
- Tropical storms
- 30
- Tornadoes
- 179
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Opelousas
The strongest storm to pass near Opelousas was Laura in 2020, a Category 3 hurricane with 123 mph winds when its centre passed 72 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Gustav in 2008, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Opelousas begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Delta in 2020, a tropical storm 31 miles away. Of the 42 systems, 9 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 50% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Opelousas. The highest rating among the 179 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 10 times; the most recent, on April 10, 2021, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on November 7, 1957, killed 4 people. Of the 179, 14 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 87 have come since 2000. April and May have had the most tornadoes, 26 each. The most recent tornado was on March 31, 2025. Opelousas has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 245 Louisiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 40 times since 1969, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 245 Louisiana cities, 51% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Opelousas.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Opelousas
Of the 42 tracks on the map, 18 were moving north as they passed Opelousas, 10 northeast and 9 northwest. Laura (2020), the strongest pass, was heading north; its centre passed 72 miles west of Opelousas. Within 75 miles of Opelousas, 14 of the 42 came ashore, 6 of them as hurricanes. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 9 came near Opelousas: 3.0 a decade, against 2.3 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 72 mi | Category 3 (123 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | BarryJul 13 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2017 | HarveyAug 30 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2011 | LeeSep 4 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | GustavSep 1 | 2 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2007 | HumbertoSep 13 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2002 | LiliOct 3 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1992 | AndrewAug 26 | 27 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | JuanOct 29 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1985 | DannyAug 15 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1977 | BabeSep 5 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1974 | CarmenSep 8 | 31 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1973 | Unnamed 1973 stormSep 13 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | EdithSep 16 | 21 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 10 | 26 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1964 | HildaOct 4 | 53 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1959 | ArleneMay 31 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | Unnamed 1955 stormAug 27 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | BarbaraJul 29 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 19 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormSep 24 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1937 | Unnamed 1937 stormOct 3 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 16 | 38 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 19 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1931 | Unnamed 1931 stormJul 15 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormAug 26 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 13 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 34 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormAug 1 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormOct 9 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 29 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 20 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 66 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 15 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 1 | 71 mi | Category 2 (97 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 30 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 2 | 56 mi | Category 1 (90 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormAug 11 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Opelousas: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Check hail and hurricane history for any address
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Opelousas
By decade
- 2020s22(2 EF3+)
- 2010s24
- 2000s41
- 1990s23
- 1980s20(2 EF3+)
- 1970s26(3 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s12(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 1957 | F3 | 11 mi | 9.2 mi | 4 / 10 |
| Oct 29, 1974 | F3 | 20 mi | 31.3 mi | 2 / 52 |
| Apr 10, 2021 | EF3 | 12 mi | 8.71 mi | 1 / 7 |
| May 17, 2020 | EF3 | 11 mi | 3.93 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Apr 21, 1977 | F3 | 18 mi | 3.8 mi | 1 / 11 |
| Oct 15, 1957 | F3 | 4 mi | 37.9 mi | 1 / 29 |
| Feb 9, 1983 | F3 | 5 mi | 21 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Feb 9, 1983 | F3 | 13 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 29, 1974 | F3 | 24 mi | 7.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 4, 1952 | F3 | 17 mi | 36.7 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Apr 4, 1952 | F2 | 11 mi | 20.4 mi | 4 / 33 |
| Sep 3, 2008 | EF2 | 23 mi | 7.06 mi | 2 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 179, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Opelousas
The Storm Prediction Center has 40 hail reports within 10 miles of Opelousas since 1969, made on 34 separate days. Of these, 22 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on April 18, 1988. The most recent report is from May 6, 2025. March and April have the most reports, 10 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Opelousas
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Grand Coteau, LA, 8 miles south of Opelousas at 55 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 64°F and 41°F. June is the wettest at 7.0 inches of precipitation on average and March the driest at 3.8 inches; the year adds up to 61.6 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (30.9 of 61.6 inches). September has brought the most of the 42 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (17); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 5.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 93 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 18 nights a year. That 61.6 inches is more than at 45 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (56%). Ville Platte, 18 miles northwest, has its own station (Eunice, LA): 57.8 inches a year, 3.8 less than here, and an August average high of 93°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 64 | 41 | 6.5 | 7 |
| Feb | 67 | 45 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Mar | 74 | 51 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Apr | 79 | 57 | 5.3 | 5 |
| May | 86 | 65 | 5.7 | 6 |
| Jun | 90 | 70 | 7.0 | 8 |
| Jul | 92 | 73 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Aug | 92 | 72 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Sep | 88 | 68 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Oct | 81 | 58 | 5.0 | 5 |
| Nov | 71 | 48 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Dec | 65 | 43 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Year | 79 | 58 | 61.6 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Grand Coteau, LA (55 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 Opelousas
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 116 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Opelousas: 92 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 3 floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $171.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on March 25, 2009. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 140 have had fewer than Opelousas.
June 9, 2015: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Opelousas — 1 killed, $5,000 damage.
April 10, 2024: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Opelousas — 4 injured.
NWS: “A tree fell onto car containing 4 people. One injury was critical and victim was air lifted to Baton Rouge.”
May 31, 2012: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Opelousas — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Law enforcement relayed a report of a tree that fell on a house along Vincent Street in Opelousas. One person in the house was injured.”
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 Opelousas's ZIP code 70570 have filed 281 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-summer severe storms in 2016: 81 claims (29% of all) and $3.5 million, then Flooding in 1980 with 14. 47% 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, 121 have fewer than Opelousas.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-summer severe storms2016 | 81 | $3.5 million |
| Flooding1980 | 14 | $51,000 |
St. Landry Parish, which includes Opelousas, has been named in 46 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 23 hurricanes, 9 floods, 4 severe storms, 3 coastal storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Arthur, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives St. Landry Parish a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $49.9 million a year, the 18th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.9 million (42%), 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 Opelousas
- Washington, LA9 mi
- Sunset, LA9 mi
- Port Barre, LA10 mi
- Church Point, LA11 mi
- Arnaudville, LA13 mi
- Carencro, LA14 mi
- Ville Platte, LA18 mi
- Eunice, LA19 mi
- Scott, LA20 mi
- Mamou, LA21 mi
- Breaux Bridge, LA21 mi
- Lafayette, LA23 mi
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