Cameron Parish

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cameron Parish: 3.
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.

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

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.

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Cameron$2.8 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Rita made landfall around 230 am on September 24th in Cameron Parish near Johnson Bayou as a category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph. Wind gusts over 110 mph were recorded in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes. This resulted in numerous trees and power lines downed. In parts of Beauregard, Jeff Davis, and Vermilion Parishes, winds blew over 90 mph. The remainder of southwest Louisiana saw wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Only one direct fatality has been reported. A man drowned near a sunken shrimping vessel near the Calcasieu ship channel. Estimated damages in southwest Louisiana total near 4 billion dollars, with the bulk of that loss in Cameron and Calcasieu…

2. Aug 26, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), East Cameron$300 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a mandatory evacuation for the parish. Many trees and most power lines were blown down across the parish. All of the parish was without power and water immediately after the storm. Homes and businesses were damaged from trees falling on them or from the winds. Property south of the Intracoastal Waterway was flooded or destroyed by storm surge. The storm surge at Rutherford Beach and Creole was approximately 21 feet NAVD88 and dropped rapidly westward. The surge at Cameron was 9.19 MHHW. Wind gusts generally ranged from 90 to 150 mph across eastern Cameron Parish.

3. Aug 26, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), West Cameron$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a mandatory evacuation for the parish. Many trees and most power lines were blown down across the parish. All of the parish was without power and water immediately after the storm. Homes and businesses were damaged from trees falling on them or from the winds. A wind gust of 152 MPH was recorded at a PWS in Holly Beach, however wind gusts generally ranged from 90 to 150 mph across western Cameron Parish. Storm surge reached a height of 9.19 MHHW at Cameron, but was 3.97 MHHW at Texas Point near Sabine Pass. This caused damage to Holly Beach, however surge damage was minimal to the west and produced mostly beach erosion.

4. Oct 9, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), East Cameron$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Delta moved into eastern Cameron Parish during the 9th with wind gusts around 100 mph. The storm tide reached 5.5 to 9 feet MHHW. Several sections of road were washed out by rushing water along Highway 82 and Trosclair. Rainfall totals around 12 inches were common.

5. Sep 12, 2008Storm Surge/Tide, Cameron$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ike resulted in a 12 foot storm surge along the coast in Cameron Parish, slightly smaller than Hurricane Rita in 2005. At least 3000 homes were flooded. Many modular and mobile homes that were not elevatetd were destroyed by the storm surge. Water rescues were performed in Grand Lake and Hackberry.

6. Oct 9, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), West Cameron$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Delta moved into eastern Cameron Parish during the 9th, however wind gusts around 100 mph were common west of the center. Storm tides reached 3 to 5.5 feet MHHW from Sabine Pass to Cameron and rainfall totals ranged from 6 to 12 inches. Power was just getting restored to portions of Hackberry before the hurricane moved inland, but was knocked out again during the storm.

7. Aug 14, 2016Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain over the northern sections of the Mermentau River Valley gradually worked to Cameron Parish and the coast. The river crested during the afternoon of the 18th on the northeast side of Cameron Parish and dropped through the remainder of the month. Most of the impacts across the area were flooded roadways and marshland, however 47 structures still flooded.

8. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Cameron$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ike had wind gust speeds of 80-90 mph in western sections of Cameron Parish, resulting in wind damage to homes and businesses in the Johnson Bayou to Cameron areas.

9. Sep 9, 1998Tropical Storm, Cameron$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Frances was the third tropical system to affect southwest Louisiana in three weeks, and was by far the worst. Tides at Cameron were the highest since Hurricane Carla in 1961. Tornadoes and severe flooding were the 2 main weather disasters.In Cameron Parish, Highway 82 was closed between Holly Beach and Constance Beach for 3 days due to high water. Sections of 82 between Holly Beach and Cameron, and around the Grand Chenier area were also closed. At Constance Beach, ten camps were heavily damaged, three of which were completely washed away. At Holly Beach, 2 feet of sand piled up along the coast. In Cameron, nearly every home and business on Main Street had water…

10. Feb 22, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    On several offshore oil rigs, two heliopters were blown off the platforms into the water, and another one was tipped over. Winds were estimated at 112 mph. No injurires were reported.

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

109°FAug 27, 2023

All-time low

6°FJan 22, 2025

Warmest night

84°FAug 10, 2023

Coldest day

24°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

15.67 inMay 16, 1980

Snowiest day

5.5 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

2024mean 71.5°F

Coldest year

1979mean 66.2°F

Wettest year

200285.18 in

Driest year

196534.80 in

Snowiest season

5.5 in2024-25

Station Lake Charles (USW00003937), 137 ft elevation, 11.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 25, 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00003937.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.