Ruston

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Lincoln Parish, the county that contains Ruston.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Lincoln Parish, the county that contains Ruston.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 25, 2019Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-3 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 145 mph touched down just northeast of the intersection of Highway 80 and Highway 818 where several trees were uprooted. It continued northeast, crossing South Maple Street where the tornado intensified, resulting in widespread tree damage just south of Highway 3012 along Wade Drive, Lind Drive, Robert Street, University Boulevard, and Shelor Drive. Many of these streets were impassable due to the significant number of trees snapped, twisted, and uprooted. Many more trees were downed on Highway 3012 before the tornado tracked northeast towards Westwood Drive. It uprooted a number of trees onto fraternity houses before it crossed…

2. Mar 8, 2016Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 5-day heavy rainfall event resulted in massive flooding across all of Lincoln Parish in Northern Louisiana. Some of the more impressive 5 day totals across the parish were as follows: Ruston 5.5 NW: 18.02, Ruston 1.6 NW: 17.53. The Louisiana National Guard was deployed by the Governor of Louisiana to assist local law enforcement in the massive response to the prolonged flooding event. These operations included evacuations, search and rescue, distribution and supply of water and meals, security and shelter support and distribution of sandbags and sandbag filling machines. In addition, 36 high water vehicles and 16 boats were called in to assist in the effort. Nearly 90 roads were…

3. Nov 30, 1996Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado, in association with a line of severe thunderstorms, touched down in southwest Simsboro, LA. The tornado killed 2 men while injuring another as a tree fell across the cab of their truck while installing a radio. Nine people were injured. The tornado did minor damage to 33 homes, one was completely destroyed. Several mobile homes and one local church suffered major damage. The tornado struck the Ball-Foster Glass Container factory near I-20 knocking out brick walls and flipping 18 wheel trailers adjacent to the factory. As the tornado moved across I-20 several wrecks occurred including a tractor trailer which jackknifed into a ditch.

4. Apr 14, 2018Tornado$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds between 95-105 mph touched down south of Grambling near the intersection of Null and Mondy Roads. The tornado moved east along Mondy Road, turning northeast crossing Tennessee Avenue, and across the Ruston County Club and the south and southeast sections of Ruston snapping and uprooting trees and several wooden power poles along its path. As the tornado entered the southeast sections of Ruston, numerous trees were snapped, falling on homes and vehicles along Highway 167 and Love Avenue. Another tree was snapped and fell onto a car on McAllister Street, with additional trees snapped and uprooted onto homes, power lines, and vehicles on…

5. Dec 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm Survey Team concluded that the damage in extreme Northeast Lincoln Parish was consistent with straight line wind damage. A few structures sustained minor to moderate damage. One structure in particular, a chicken house Northwest of Downsville was completely destroyed. Of the 80000 chickens housed in the shelter, only 50000 survived.

6. Feb 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds toppled numerous trees and powerlines. Forty nine roads were closed from fallen trees. A 34 year old cooling tower collapsed at the city electric generating plant. Six vehicles ran into downed trees but no injuries were reported.

7. Apr 9, 2009Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This storm developed along State Hwy 508, south of Simmsboro Louisiana in Lincoln Parish. Several trees were snapped or uprooted across the Hwy, and some minor roof damage occurred near the intersection of Hwy 508 and Mondy road. Other trees were snapped and uprooted along Mondy road where it eventually lifted. The tornado track was 4.4 miles long and approximately 150 yards wide at its widest point. This EF1 tornado was on the ground for approximately 6 minutes.

8. Sep 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines toppled leaving up to 8500 customers without power as long as 4 days while power structures were rebuilt. Numerous vehicles were damaged and several fires broke out. A warehouse was also destroyed.

9. Apr 22, 1997Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail damaged cars and roofs and the largest peach orchard in Lincoln Parish.

10. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Lincoln$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tropical storm force winds downed several trees and power lines across Lincoln Parish during the height of the storm. Scattered power outages were also reported across Lincoln Parish. A tree fell on top of a home at 1308 Honeysuckle Lane in Ruston, Louisiana. Another tree fell across a home on Evans Street in Ruston. There were no report of injuries.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

108°F4 times, most recently Aug 24, 2023

All-time low

−2°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

84°FAug 4, 2010

Coldest day

16°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

10.86 inMar 9, 2016

Snowiest day

9.2 inJan 30, 1949

Hottest year

2023mean 69.0°F

Coldest year

1968mean 62.7°F

Wettest year

199178.64 in

Driest year

200531.13 in

Snowiest season

9.2 in1948-49

Station Monroe Regional Airport (USW00013942), 73 ft elevation, 35.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1930 to October 27, 2026; 99.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Lincoln Parish.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013942.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.