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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ragley, 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

39 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Ragley, Louisiana since 1851, 12 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Delta in 2020. Since 1950, 138 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
12

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
27

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
138

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Ragley

The strongest storm to pass near Ragley was Laura in 2020, a Category 3 hurricane with 124 mph winds when its centre passed 10 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1886, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Ragley begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Delta in 2020, a Category 1 hurricane 24 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1970s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 39 systems, 9 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 50% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Ragley. The highest rating among the 138 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on November 21, 1992, came within 16 miles. Of the 138, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 66 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on October 25, 2025. Ragley has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 68% of the 245 Louisiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 46 times since 1974, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Ragley has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 245 Louisiana cities.

Compare Ragley's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ragley

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Ragley, Louisiana, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2020DeltaOct 1024 miCategory 1 (82 mph)Category 4
2020LauraAug 2710 miCategory 3 (124 mph)Category 4
2019BarryJul 1415 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 1
2017HarveyAug 302 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 4
2017CindyJun 2239 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
2008GustavSep 247 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 4
2007HumbertoSep 1313 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
2005RitaSep 2452 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 5
2002LiliOct 344 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 4
1985JuanOct 3056 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1985DannyAug 1534 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 1
1982ChrisSep 1122 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm
1979ClaudetteJul 2547 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1978DebraAug 2966 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1974CarmenSep 810 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 4
1973Unnamed 1973 stormSep 1210 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1971EdithSep 1659 miCategory 1 (87 mph)Category 4
1957BerthaAug 1064 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1957AudreyJun 2723 miCategory 1 (94 mph)Category 3
1955Unnamed 1955 stormAug 272 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1954BarbaraJul 2925 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
1947Unnamed 1947 stormSep 2049 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 4
1940Unnamed 1940 stormSep 2424 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1940Unnamed 1940 stormAug 770 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 2
1938Unnamed 1938 stormAug 1522 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 2
1926Unnamed 1926 stormAug 2726 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 3
1918Unnamed 1918 stormAug 626 miCategory 2 (100 mph)Category 3
1908Unnamed 1908 stormAug 19 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1905Unnamed 1905 stormSep 2958 miTropical storm (45 mph)Tropical storm
1898Unnamed 1898 stormSep 2035 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 1362 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 1
1886Unnamed 1886 stormOct 1330 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJun 142 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 2
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1556 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 2366 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 2
1875Unnamed 1875 stormSep 1814 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 3
1865Unnamed 1865 stormSep 1421 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 2
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 3032 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 1175 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Ragley: 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 Ragley

By decade

  • 2020s19
  • 2010s37
  • 2000s10
  • 1990s29(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s16
  • 1970s10(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s11(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s6
Strongest tornadoes near Ragley, Louisiana
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Nov 21, 1992F316 mi6 mi0 / 2
Apr 17, 1973F315 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Feb 12, 1971F315 mi3.6 mi0 / 1
May 1, 1967F319 mi5.2 mi0 / 2
May 13, 2024EF220 mi3.44 mi0 / 0
Apr 10, 2024EF220 mi1.05 mi0 / 0
Jan 24, 2023EF24 mi12.43 mi0 / 3
Oct 25, 2022EF224 mi0.44 mi0 / 0
Oct 27, 2021EF223 mi2.2 mi0 / 2
Nov 26, 2003F222 mi18 mi0 / 5
Mar 2, 1999F223 mi8 mi0 / 0
Jan 2, 1999F25 mi1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 138, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Ragley

The Storm Prediction Center has 46 hail reports within 10 miles of Ragley since 1974, made on 34 separate days. Of these, 27 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on March 27, 2009. The most recent report is from May 12, 2024. March and May have the most reports, 11 each.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Ragley

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Moss Bluff 2 NNW, LA, 10 miles southwest of Ragley at 25 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 63°F and 40°F. August is the wettest at 7.5 inches of precipitation on average and March the driest at 4.1 inches; the year adds up to 69.3 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (37.5 of 69.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 39 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (16); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 6.3 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 25 nights a year. That 69.3 inches is more than at 79 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (98%). Longville, 11 miles northwest, has its own station (De Ridder, LA): 64.2 inches a year, 5.1 less than here, and the same July average high, 92°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Lake Charles, LA, 18 miles south, averaged 89°F in August and 59°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to September.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Moss Bluff 2 NNW, LA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan63406.6659
Feb66454.3661
Mar72504.1568
Apr78565.3674
May85655.9681
Jun90717.4887
Jul92735.9889
Aug92727.5889
Sep88686.3686
Oct81575.3479
Nov71485.1570
Dec64425.6763
Year795769.37476

Averages for 1991–2020 at Moss Bluff 2 NNW, LA (25 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Lake Charles, LA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Louisiana weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Ragley

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 70 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ragley: 59 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on March 29, 2011. May has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 61 have had fewer than Ragley.

  • October 26, 2006: flood 6 miles from the centre of Ragley — $2.0 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 Ragley's ZIP code 70657 have filed 66 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $2.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Barry in 2019: 14 claims (21% of all) and $951,000. 61% 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, 49 have fewer than Ragley.

Flood insurance claims in Ragley by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Tropical Storm Barry201914$951,000

Beauregard Parish, which includes Ragley, has been named in 43 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1983, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 22 hurricanes, 5 floods, 4 coastal storms, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Ida, on August 29, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Beauregard Parish a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $16.6 million a year, the 36th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.0 million (48%), 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 Ragley