Zachary

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.

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 East Baton Rouge Parish, the county that contains Zachary.

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.

River crests

River gauges in East Baton Rouge Parish, the county that contains Zachary.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for East Baton Rouge Parish, the county that contains Zachary.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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. Aug 13, 2016Flood$1.7 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   Twenty to thirty inches of rainfall over a 2 day period led to widespread flash flooding in East Baton Rouge Parish, details of which are contained in the flash flood report for the parish. As water drained into the local rivers, record levels were recorded along the Amite and Comite Rivers, with flooding far exceeding the 1% annual risk flood plain. Portions of interstates 10 and 12 were closed due to high water on the roadways as crests moved downstream. In all, approximately 25,000 homes and hundreds of additional businesses suffered various degrees of flooding, though it's difficult to determine how many were due to initial flash flooding and how many were due to subsequent…

2. Aug 12, 2016Flash Flood$722 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Twenty to thirty inches of rainfall over a 2 day period led to widespread flash flooding in East Baton Rouge Parish. As water drained into the local rivers, record levels were recorded. Additional details of the river flooding can be found in the flood report for the parish. As floodwaters rose, hundreds of high water rescues were necessary across the parish. Portions of interstates 10 and 110 were closed due to water crossing the roadway during the flash flooding. In all, approximately 25,000 homes and hundreds of additional businesses suffered various degrees of flooding, though it's difficult to determine how many were due to initial flash flooding and how many were due to…

3. Aug 29, 2021Hurricane (Typhoon), East Baton Rouge$250 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ida���s winds downed numerous trees, power lines and power poles across the parish, with over 85 roads closed due to downed trees/lines or debris. Several structures suffered minor to moderate wind damage. Nearly 250,000 homes/businesses were without power during the peak. In the aftermath of the storm, two heat-related fatalities occurred.

4. Sep 1, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), East Baton Rouge$37.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Gustav affected nearly 7000 homes with 70 homes being destroyed, 437 receiving major damage, and 836 minor damage. Many businesses also received damage and numerous trees and utility poles were knocked down. The damage was caused by the high winds associated with Gustav. A peak wind gust of 91 mph was measured at Baton Rouge Metro Airport. Two people died during the storm when winds toppled a large tree which crashed into a house killing two of the occupants and injuring a third.

5. Aug 28, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), East Baton Rouge$17.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest and most destructive hurricanes on record to impact the coast of the United States. It will likely be recorded as one the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States to date resulting in catastrophic damage and numerous casualties in southeast Louisiana and along the Mississippi coast. Damage and casualties resulting from Hurricane Katrina extended as far east as Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. Katrina developed from a tropical depression southeast of the Bahamas on August 24th. After moving through the Bahamas as a tropical storm, Katrina strengthened to a category 1 hurricane prior to landfall in south Florida…

6. Aug 28, 2012Hurricane (Typhoon), East Baton Rouge$10.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Isaac entered the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm on August 26, moving northwest after crossing Haiti, Cuba and the Florida Straits. Isaac strengthened into a hurricane on the morning of the 28th when it was 75 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Isaac made landfall in Plaquemines Parish as a Category 1 Hurricane near Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River on the evening of the 28th. A second landfall occurred near Port Fourchon the following morning. The storm weakened to a tropical storm on the afternoon of the 29th about 50 miles west southwest of New Orleans, and weakened further to a tropical depression on the afternoon of the 30th near Monroe,…

7. Oct 9, 2020Tropical Storm, East Baton Rouge$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Delta produced sustained tropical storm force winds with peak gusts in the 50 to 60 mph range downed numerous trees and snapped some power poles across the parish. Falling trees caused damage to a few structures and led to widespread power outages as the trees or limbs fell on power lines. Over 140 roads were blocked by fallen trees and at the peak, more than 75,000 homes or approximately 35 percent of the parish |were without power.

8. Jun 7, 2001Flood, East Baton Rouge$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Allison resulted in major flooding along the Amite and Comite Rivers and associated tributaries.

9. Sep 23, 2005Tropical Storm, East Baton Rouge$5.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tropical depression moving west through the Turks and Caicos Islands developed into Tropical Storm Rita on the afternoon of September 18th. Rita moved west through the central Bahamas on the 19th and strengthened into a category 2 hurricane on the 20th while moving across the Florida Straits. After entering the Gulf of Mexico on the 21st, Rita rapidly intensified as it moved west northwest. Rita strengthened to a category 5 storm on the afternoon of the 21st and reached its peak intensity the next day 570 miles east southeast of Galveston, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and a minimum central pressure of 897 mb. Rita turned northwest and weakened to a category 3…

10. Oct 2, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), East Baton Rouge$5.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hurricane Lili, a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, during the daylight hours of October 2, 2002 moved steadily northwest around 15 mph toward the Louisiana coast during the evening hour. The hurricane weakened rapidly to a Saffir Simpson Scale Category 1 Hurricane by the time it made landfall during the morning of October 3rd along the south central Louisiana coast. The hurricane continued to moved north northwest across south central Louisiana before turning northeast across the northern portion of the state. Due to the rapid weakening, no sustained hurricane force winds were measured in southeast Louisiana. However, storm surge was significant across the southeast…

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

106°F2 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

All-time low

7°FJan 22, 2025

Warmest night

85°FAug 10, 2023

Coldest day

21°FJan 11, 1962

Wettest day

11.99 inApr 14, 1967

Snowiest day

7.6 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

2023mean 72.6°F

Coldest year

1983mean 65.3°F

Wettest year

201690.54 in

Driest year

200038.10 in

Snowiest season

7.6 in2024-25

Station Baton Rouge Metro Airport (USW00013970), 67 ft elevation, 8.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1930 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% 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 East Baton Rouge 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 USW00013970.
• 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.