Tensas Parish

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Tensas 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 2, 2008Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall fell across all of Tensas Parish as persistent rain bands continued to impact the area from weakening Hurricane Gustav. Rainfall amounts between 9 and 17 inches fell across the parish, mostly during the evening of the 2nd and early morning of the 3rd. Local officials said they have never seen that much rain or water across the parish ever. The flooding was widespread and significant.||Numerous roads were flooded with some washed out. Dozens of 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…

2. May 8, 2011Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Mississippi River caused extensive flooding of low lying farmland around the river. All of the flood waters were within the mainline levee. A grainery was damaged due to the flood waters, and approximately 70 camps and homes were damaged or destroyed. Damage also occurred to industrial structures and levees along the river.

3. Apr 4, 2011Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first touched down along Highway 573 just south of Cooter Point. It tracked northeast across Highway 892 and 126 and then crossed Highway 65 a few miles northwest of St. Joseph. The tornado then crossed Lake Bruin and traveled north of that lake before crossing the southern end of Lake St. Joseph. The tornado ended as it touched the eastern bank of the river in Claiborne County, Mississippi. Numerous homes...farms and outbuildings were significantly damaged by the tornado. Much of the damage to the homes was to the roofs with many being blown off. A water treatment plant received major damage and an antebellum home also received significant damage. A grain silo…

4. Sep 24, 2005Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first touched down in Clayton and tracked to the northeast for 14 miles to 6 miles north of Waterproof. The tornado was on the ground for 3 miles in Concordia parish before it moved into Tensas parish. The damage in Clayton and just to the northeast was confined to a few trees uprooted and snapped with one tree landing on a mobile home causing 1 injury. The tornado became more intense as it moved across southern Tensas parish. The tornado tracked nearly 6 miles across swamp land before it slammed into a small church on Highway 566. The church was totally destroyed as it was blown off its pillars and deposited in a tree and across the Highway. After traveling across…

5. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Tensas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds occurred across Tensas 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 50 and 60 mph for several hours. Many roads were blocked by downed trees and the power outages were extensive. Sustained winds were around 40 mph.

6. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Tensas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   See detailed narrative in Central Mississippi section.

7. Feb 3, 2006Hail$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large supercell thunderstorm moved across Central Louisiana and impacted portions of Catahoula, Franklin and Tensas parishes. This supercell storm brought with it a swath of penny to golf ball sized hail. This hail damaged homes and many automobiles. Roofs were damaged along with windows broken out of buildings, homes and vehicles. The main core of the storm move out of Caldwell parish and across Northern Catahoula parish from Rosefield to Enterprise to Sicily Island. The storm also moved across Southern Franklin parish from around the Extension Community to Wisner to the extreme southeast corner of the parish. The storm then moved into Tensas parish near Cooter Point and…

8. Sep 3, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the evening of the 3rd, another band of heavy rainfall moved across the parish. An additional 2 to 3 inches fell across an area that was extremely saturated and still flooded from earlier rainfall. This last round of rain caused parish roads to flood again.

9. Jan 21, 1999Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combined fifty house trailers and houses were completely destroyed by this tornado. Hundreds of trees were either downed or snapped off. A metal fishing boat was wrapped around a tree. Many cotton hoppers were flipped over several times. Vehicles were thrown 250 to 300 feet, one of which was left suspended in a tree.

10. Dec 22, 1998Ice Storm, Tensas$500,000

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°FJun 23, 2025

All-time low

−8°FJan 27, 1940

Warmest night

83°FAug 4, 1918

Coldest day

14°FJan 11, 1962

Wettest day

9.85 inApr 4, 1940

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 2, 1919

Hottest year

1998mean 69.8°F

Coldest year

1968mean 63.5°F

Wettest year

194083.44 in

Driest year

192430.42 in

Snowiest season

12.0 in1935-36

Station St. Joseph 3 N (USC00168163), 78 ft elevation, 3.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to May 29, 2026; 85.2% 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 USC00168163.
• 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.