Richland Parish

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 3, 2008Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall fell across all of Richland Parish as persistent rain bands continued to impact the area from weakening Hurricane Gustav. Rainfall amounts between 8 and 15 inches fell across the parish, mostly during the evening of the 2nd and early morning of the 3rd.||Numerous roads were flooded with some washed out. Some homes were also flooded across the parish as multiple rounds of heavy rain impacted the area.||Agriculture was extremely hard hit as farmland was flooded and crops became water logged. Many areas saw total loss of some crops while other areas experienced very low yields. Cotton, soybeans and sweet potatoes were some of the hardest hit crops.

2. Oct 16, 2006Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tremendous amounts of rain fell across Richland Parish during the afternoon and evening of October 16th. Eight to fifteen inches of rain fell during this time causing significant flooding across the parish. Dozens of homes were flooded along with a large majority of the roads across the parish. Many roads had sections washed out and were impassable. Locals who have lived in the area all their life mentioned they have never seen water like that before.

3. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Richland$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds occurred across Richland Parish as the outer edges of Hurricane Gustav moved across southern and central Louisiana. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Tree damage was widespread across the parish as wind gusts peaked between 40 and 50 mph for several hours. Many roads were blocked by downed trees and the power outages were extensive.

4. Oct 19, 2006Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused several roads in the parish to flood and a bridge to wash out that was weakend by previous rains eariler in the week. A few homes were also flooded by rising water.

5. Dec 22, 1998Ice Storm, Richland$600,000
6. Sep 24, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Richland$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   See narrative for Mississippi.

7. Sep 9, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A microburst with estimated maximum gusts of 95 mph produced a 2.5 mile by 1.2 mile swath of damage near Start, including numerous downed hardwood limbs and some snapped or uprooted hardwood trees. Several sheds were damaged or destroyed, and one home had the roof ripped off the east side. Others had some shingle damage and lost pieces of siding. The skirting was loosened on several mobile homes, and the porches were completely blown off of two mobile homes. A small grain silo was overturned.

8. Jun 16, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power lines were blown down in a swath across northern portions of the parish.

9. Feb 3, 2011Ice Storm, Richland$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A quarter inch to four tenths of ice and sleet accumulated across the parish. Bridges and overpasses were iced over and roadways were slick.

10. Mar 26, 2023Hail$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail up to quarter size fell in Rayville.

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, 18.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1930 to October 26, 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.

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 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.