NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Zwolle, 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 Zwolle, Louisiana since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Laura in 2020. Since 1950, 78 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 78
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Zwolle
The strongest storm to pass near Zwolle was Laura in 2020, a Category 1 hurricane with 91 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. The record near Zwolle begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Laura in 2020. The busiest decade was the 1940s, with 4 systems. Of the 23 systems, 6 have come since 2000. Of the 245 Louisiana cities on this site, 73% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Zwolle. The highest rating among the 78 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 6 times; the most recent, on May 19, 1983, came within 8 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on February 12, 1950, killed 5 people. Of the 78, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on March 28, 2025. Of the 245 Louisiana cities, 91% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Zwolle. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 49 times since 1961, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Zwolle has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 245 Louisiana cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Zwolle
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 27 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | BarryJul 14 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2017 | CindyJun 22 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | GustavSep 2 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2007 | HumbertoSep 13 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2005 | RitaSep 24 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1982 | ChrisSep 11 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1974 | CarmenSep 9 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 27 | 36 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormOct 5 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 20 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormAug 9 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormAug 15 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormAug 27 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 22 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1918 | Unnamed 1918 stormAug 7 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormAug 1 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 6 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 18 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Zwolle: 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 Zwolle
By decade
- 2020s19
- 2010s17
- 2000s8
- 1990s12
- 1980s6(2 EF3+)
- 1970s5(2 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 12, 1950 | F3 | 2 mi | 74.5 mi | 5 / 25 |
| Mar 20, 1974 | F3 | 3 mi | 85.2 mi | 1 / 9 |
| May 19, 1983 | F3 | 8 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 27, 1980 | F3 | 19 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 20, 1974 | F3 | 14 mi | 44.7 mi | 0 / 18 |
| Nov 16, 1957 | F3 | 16 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 1954 | F2 | 8 mi | 16.7 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jul 8, 2024 | EF2 | 18 mi | 1.42 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 8, 2024 | EF2 | 14 mi | 24.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 8, 2024 | EF2 | 13 mi | 16.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 2022 | EF2 | 24 mi | 3.56 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 24, 2019 | EF2 | 21 mi | 8.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 78, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Zwolle
The Storm Prediction Center has 49 hail reports within 10 miles of Zwolle since 1961, made on 42 separate days. Of these, 30 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on May 14, 1985. The most recent report is from October 28, 2025. April has the most reports, 14.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Zwolle
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Many, LA, 11 miles east of Zwolle at 255 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 58°F and 35°F. December is the wettest at 6.4 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 56.3 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 44% of the year's precipitation (24.9 of 56.3 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 23 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 87°F and 3.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 84 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 39 nights a year. That 56.3 inches is more than at 13 of the 81 Louisiana stations used on this site (16%). Shelbyville, TX, 17 miles northwest, has its own station (Center, TX): 56.8 inches a year, 0.5 more than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 35 | 5.3 | 6 |
| Feb | 62 | 38 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Mar | 70 | 44 | 5.2 | 6 |
| Apr | 76 | 51 | 4.9 | 5 |
| May | 83 | 60 | 5.2 | 5 |
| Jun | 89 | 68 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Jul | 92 | 72 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Aug | 92 | 70 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Sep | 87 | 65 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Oct | 79 | 52 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 68 | 43 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 59 | 37 | 6.4 | 7 |
| Year | 76 | 53 | 56.3 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Many, LA (255 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 Zwolle
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 41 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Zwolle: 30 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 3, 2009. Of the 239 Louisiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 74 have had fewer than Zwolle.
March 12, 2001: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Zwolle — 1 killed, $28,000 damage.
NWS: “A man was killed when a tree was blown over on a vehicle on LA 482 5 west of Zwolle.”
May 3, 2009: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Zwolle — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “Emergency Management and Sheriff Office confirmed the fatality of an elderly man near Zwolle, Louisiana. The man was killed by a fallen tree while lying in the bed of his pickup truck parked in the driveway next to his home.”
July 4, 2015: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Zwolle — 6 injured, $10,000 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
Sabine Parish, which includes Zwolle, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 18 hurricanes, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 coastal storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Ida, on August 29, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sabine Parish a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.9 million a year, the 39th highest of 64 Louisiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.2 million (52%), 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 Zwolle
- Many, LA9 mi
- Shelbyville, TX17 mi
- Florien, LA19 mi
- Hemphill, TX19 mi
- Robeline, LA23 mi
- Bronson, TX28 mi
- San Augustine, TX30 mi
- Mansfield, LA30 mi
- Anacoco, LA30 mi
- Logansport, LA33 mi
- Center, TX33 mi
- Joaquin, TX34 mi
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