NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tallulah, 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
23 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Tallulah, Louisiana since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 148 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 148
- EF3 or stronger
- 16
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
153 deaths in all
What the records show for Tallulah
The strongest storm to pass near Tallulah was Camille in 1969, a Category 1 hurricane with 76 mph winds when its centre passed 71 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1909, whose centre came within 24 miles. The record near Tallulah begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 41 miles away. Of the 23 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 73% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Tallulah. The highest rating among the 148 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on February 21, 1971, came within 13 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 21, 1971, killed 58 people. Of the 148, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on October 18, 2025. Tallulah has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 245 Louisiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 50 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Tallulah has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 245 Louisiana cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Tallulah
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaAug 30 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | IsaacAug 30 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2002 | LiliOct 4 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1992 | AndrewAug 27 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | ElenaSep 2 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | DannyAug 16 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 71 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 10 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | EstherSep 19 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 6 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 24 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 21 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1890 | Unnamed 1890 stormAug 28 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Tallulah: 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 Tallulah
By decade
- 2020s19
- 2010s25(1 EF3+)
- 2000s20
- 1990s29(2 EF3+)
- 1980s22(7 EF3+)
- 1970s17(2 EF3+)
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s8(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1971 | F5 | 13 mi | 109.2 mi | 47 / 510 |
| Dec 5, 1953 | F5 | 17 mi | 9 mi | 38 / 270 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 23 mi | 202.1 mi | 58 / 795 |
| Apr 24, 2010 | EF4 | 4 mi | 148.97 mi | 10 / 146 |
| Jan 21, 1999 | F3 | 15 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 21, 1992 | F3 | 2 mi | 38 mi | 0 / 11 |
| May 7, 1984 | F3 | 23 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 19, 1983 | F3 | 15 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1983 | F3 | in town | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1983 | F3 | 14 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1983 | F3 | 10 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1983 | F3 | 13 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 148, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Tallulah
The Storm Prediction Center has 50 hail reports within 10 miles of Tallulah since 1974, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 36 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 8, 1984. The most recent report is from December 28, 2024. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Tallulah
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tallulah, LA, in Tallulah at 85 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 60°F and 38°F. April is the wettest at 6.7 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 57.9 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 42% of the year's precipitation (24.5 of 57.9 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 23 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 90°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 82 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 34 nights a year. That 57.9 inches is more than at 21 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (26%). Vicksburg, MS, 19 miles east, has its own station (Vicksburg City, MS): 61.8 inches a year, 3.9 more than here, and an August average high of 92°F against 95°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 38 | 5.6 | 7 |
| Feb | 64 | 41 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Mar | 72 | 48 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Apr | 79 | 56 | 6.7 | 6 |
| May | 86 | 65 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Jun | 92 | 72 | 3.9 | 6 |
| Jul | 94 | 74 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Aug | 95 | 73 | 3.9 | 6 |
| Sep | 90 | 68 | 3.3 | 4 |
| Oct | 81 | 56 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 70 | 46 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Dec | 62 | 40 | 5.8 | 7 |
| Year | 79 | 56 | 57.9 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Tallulah, LA (85 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 Tallulah
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 92 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tallulah: 78 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 4 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $6.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on December 27, 2024. April 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 Tallulah.
May 7, 2011: flood 8 miles from the centre of Tallulah — 1 killed, $1.1 million damage.
NWS: “Flooding along the Mississippi River caused extensive flooding of low lying farmland around the river. Areas behind the backwater levee flooded due to tributaries that were unable to drain through the Steele Bayou structure, which had been closed.”
December 27, 2018: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Tallulah — 1 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “Wind blew a car off the road into a ditch and crashed. A child was trapped and injured.”
May 7, 2011: flood 10 miles from the centre of Tallulah — $2.3 million damage.
NWS: “Flooding along the Mississippi River caused extensive flooding of low lying farmland around the river. All of the flood waters were within the mainline levee.”
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 Tallulah's ZIP code 71282 have filed 221 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1991: 34 claims (15% of all) and $177,000, then Mid-spring storms in 2011 with 14. The year with the most claims was 2013, with 27. 25% 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, 107 have fewer than Tallulah.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1991 | 34 | $177,000 |
| Mid-spring storms2011 | 14 | $397,000 |
Madison Parish, which includes Tallulah, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 hurricanes, 5 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 18, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Madison Parish a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $6.2 million a year, the 54th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.6 million (26%), is from tornadoes.
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 Tallulah
- Vicksburg, MS19 mi
- Delhi, LA20 mi
- Lake Providence, LA28 mi
- Rolling Fork, MS31 mi
- Port Gibson, MS32 mi
- Edwards, MS34 mi
- Rayville, LA36 mi
- Winnsboro, LA36 mi
- Oak Grove, LA37 mi
- Utica, MS38 mi
- Lorman, MS40 mi
- Bolton, MS41 mi
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