St. Martin Parish

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 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 14, 2016Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along Bayou Teche occurred from around Breaux Bridge southward into Saint Mary Parish. In Saint Martin Parish roads and some structures were flooded by the end of the flash flood event, and some remained flooded for multiple days as the water slowly drained. Flooding also occurred to the newly built trail head building for the Teche Paddle Trail in Breaux Bridge.

2. Aug 14, 2016Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The gage at Lake Martin along the Vermilion River crested during the 17th as water drained from Lafayette. Major flooding along the Vermilion continued through the 23rd and kept some areas near the river and lake flooded for a couple of weeks. At the Lake Martin Gage 10 feet is flood stage and the lake crested at 15 feet.

3. Oct 9, 2020Tropical Storm, Upper St. Martin$80.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to near hurricane force and heavy rainfall lead to numerous downed trees and power lines across the parish. An 86 year old male refueled a hot generator and was killed by the resulting fire in Saint Martinville.

4. Sep 1, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Upper St. Martin$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Gustav moved across upper St. Martin Parish, damaging over 1000 homes and businesses. The hardest hit areas were Breaux Bridge to St. Martinville. A St. Martinville woman died in a house fire caused by a candle.

5. Aug 12, 2016Flash Flood$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous streets and structures flooded during the heavy rainfall. An estimated 2481 structures flooded.

6. Oct 9, 2020Tropical Storm, Lower St. Martin$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to near hurricane force and heavy rainfall lead to numerous downed trees and power lines across the parish.

7. Aug 26, 2020Tropical Storm, Upper St. Martin$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered trees and power lines were blown down across the parish. Homes and businesses were damaged from fallen trees or wind. There was some minor flooding from the vermilion river. Over 40 percent of the parish was without power immediately after the storm. Wind gusts ranged from 40 to 60 mph.

8. Sep 1, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Lower St. Martin$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Gustav moved across lower St. Martin Parish, damaging homes and businesses. The hardest hit area was Stephensville. The school had two air conditioners blow off the roof, and a radio tower next to the school lost the top 20-30 feet of the tower.

9. Oct 3, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), Upper St. Martin$10.0 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…

10. Jan 8, 2013Flash Flood$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain during Tuesday evening caused several roadways near Saint Martinville to be closed from flooding. Roads and schools remained closed into the 10th. Crawfish farmers in the area had crops washed out due to the amount of rainfall. Around 30 homes received damage from the flood waters.

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°FAug 27, 2023

All-time low

4°FJan 22, 2025

Warmest night

84°FAug 24, 2023

Coldest day

17°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

10.40 inAug 13, 2016

Snowiest day

14.0 inFeb 15, 1895

Hottest year

2023mean 72.9°F

Coldest year

1903mean 66.0°F

Wettest year

199381.07 in

Driest year

201135.82 in

Snowiest season

14.0 in1894-95

Station Lafayette Regional Airport (USW00013976), 35 ft elevation, 9.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 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 USW00013976.
• 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.