Jefferson Davis Parish

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Jefferson Davis Parish: 0.
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

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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.

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. Aug 26, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), Jefferson Davis$800 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a voluntary evacuation from the parish. Numerous trees and power lines and poles were blown down across the parish. Homes and businesses were damaged from fallen trees or from wind. All of the parish was without power immediately after the storm. Wind gusts ranged from 80 to 120 mph.

2. Oct 9, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), Jefferson Davis$300 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to around 100 mph and heavy rainfall lead to numerous downed trees and power lines across the parish. Jennings received over 9 inches of rainfall with 6 to 12 inches common in the area which produced flooding.

3. Aug 14, 2016Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood wave moved down the Mermentau River causing a crest of 10.8 feet at Lake Arthur and at the town of Mermentau. The flood stage is 4 feet, and this was the 5th highest recorded crest at Mermentau. Many roads and structures were flooded or remained flooded along the river into late in the month.

4. Oct 3, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), Jefferson Davis$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Lili made landfall the morning of October 3rd near Intracoastal City in Vermilion Parish as a category one hurricane. Over 48,000 claims were filed with FEMA by homeowners who received damage. along the path of Lili, from southwest Louisiana into central Louisiana. Only 3 injuries were reported. One injury in Evangeline Parish at Ville Platte occurred when a policeman on patrol had a tree fall on his vehicle, trapping him inside. He received minor injuries and was treated and released from a local hospital. The other two injuries occurred in Acadia Parish. Two Rayne city employees were moving vehicles to a safer location when a brick facade at the water plant fell on…

5. Jan 10, 2013Flood$16.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from rainfall that fell mainly during the 9th and 10th slowly drained across the Mermentau Basin. Major flooding was recorded on the Mermentau River at Mermentau just southeast of Jennings as waters slowly drained. Most of the damage from the flooding occurred over the southeast portions of the parish from Lake Arthur to Jennings. In Lake Arthur schools were closed and curfews were set as levees broke and homes flooded. 85 homes flooded across Jefferson Davis Parish during the flood event.

6. Aug 13, 2016Flash Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local media and law enforcement reported numerous streets were flooded an impassable during the late morning of the 13th. Around Jennings the exit ramps from Interstate 10 were flooded and some sections the interstate itself had water over it. Interstate 10 was closed at Highway 165. An estimated 1060 structures were flooded during the event.

7. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Jefferson Davis$4.0 million
   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…

8. Mar 21, 2012Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 30-40 homes and businesses were damaged when a tornado tore through Lake Arthur. Most of the damage was roof damage, although several homes had windows and walls damaged from flying debris. The water tower had a large radio antenna fall from it. Numerous trees and power lines were down.

9. Sep 12, 2008Tropical Storm, Jefferson Davis$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ike caused tropical storm wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph, resulting in minor wind damage across Jeff Davis Parish.

10. Oct 13, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A small business was destroyed by high winds. This damage extended into Welsh, where a large warehouse was damaged.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Aug 28, 2023

All-time low

7°FJan 22, 2025

Warmest night

85°FAug 15, 1951

Coldest day

17°FFeb 12, 1899

Wettest day

13.88 inAug 15, 1938

Snowiest day

5.6 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1933mean 71.4°F

Coldest year

1983mean 65.4°F

Wettest year

1940104.89 in

Driest year

195434.01 in

Snowiest season

8.1 in2024-25

Station Jennings (USC00164700), 25 ft elevation, 5.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 27, 2026; 99.4% 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 USC00164700.
• 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.