Rapides Parish

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Rapides Parish: 5.
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.

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), Rapides$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees power lines and poles were blown down across the parish. Homes and businesses were damaged from fallen trees, or from the winds. All of the parish was without power immediately after the storm. One indirect death was due to clean up after the storm and two indirect deaths were due to heat related stress. Wind gusts ranged from 65 to 105 mph.

2. Oct 9, 2020Tropical Storm, Rapides$80.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to around 65 mph and heavy rainfall lead to numerous downed trees and power lines across the parish. Flooding was caused by 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. A wind gust of 63 mph was recorded at KAEX. Major flooding occurred along the Calcasieu River along Bayou Cocodrie. One drowning was reported and 50 high water rescues were conducted.

3. Sep 1, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Rapides$80.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Gustav caused widespread trees and power lines downed across Rapides Parish. Some of the worst wind damage was in Forest Hill, Glenmora, Cheneyville, and Woodworth. At the Alexandria Mall, part of the roof caved in, damaging many stores in the mall.

4. Oct 3, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), Rapides$50.0 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$33.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from rainfall that fell mainly during the 9th and 10th slowly drained across Rapides Parish through the Red River and Bayous Boeuf, Cocodrie and others. The water level on Bayou Cocodrie fell below flood stage during the late morning hours of the 19th. During the flood event 164 home were damaged.

6. Dec 16, 2019Tornado$22.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved into Rapides Parish from Vernon Parish crossing Highway 121 as an EF1. Large branches were snapped off. The tornado was about 230 yards wide as it crossed Hwy 1199 and Clint Louis Road. The tornado continued to uproot or snap trees and at this point was about 8 miles southwest of Alexandria.||The tornado strengthened again briefly to an EF3 as it began entering the western part of the Alexandria area. Mobile homes, warehouses, and homes on slabs were all heavily damaged or destroyed in the Ross Lane and Hwy 128 locations. A recreational baseball park was destroyed as well as a Chevron Gas station. The tornado then weakened to an EF2 as it moved further east into…

7. Sep 3, 2008Flash Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over ten inches of rain fell overnight in Alexandria and Pineville, resulting in widespread urban flooding. Over 200 water rescues were performed where people were trapped in their homes filling with water, and at least 1000 autos were flooded. At least 450 homes and 150 businesses were flooded.

8. Apr 2, 2017Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rain fell across Central Louisiana with amounts ranging from 6 to 10 inches. Many homes in south and west sections of Alexandria along with numerous streets flooded during the event. Flooding was also reported in Boyce and Ball. The debris line from the flood water was noted to be several inches deep in houses across entire neighborhoods during the tornado survey the following day in South Alexandria.

9. Mar 13, 2016Flood$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood wave traveled down the Red River from North Louisiana flooding areas between the main levees. An estimated 154 structures were flooded. The railroad tracks at Boyce also became impassable at the peak of the event. Also, a water control structure along Bayou Darrow in Grant Parish failed sending water into far northwest sections of Rapides Parish. Areas along Rigolette Bayou also flooded.

10. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Rapides$2.5 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…

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

110°F2 times, most recently Aug 24, 2023

All-time low

4°FJan 24, 1948

Warmest night

82°F6 times, most recently Aug 13, 2023

Coldest day

24°FFeb 1, 1951

Wettest day

9.10 inApr 2, 2017

Snowiest day

6.7 inJan 30, 1949

Hottest year

2023mean 70.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 65.2°F

Wettest year

202082.56 in

Driest year

200531.72 in

Station Alexandria International Airport (USW00093915), 82 ft elevation, 6.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 25, 2026; 90.4% 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 USW00093915.
• 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.