Which Louisiana Parishes Have the Most Tornadoes?

Last year was a strange year for weather forecasting in Louisiana. We had an unusually cool spring, You all remember that, right? Then we had an unholy hot summertime. Many cities in Louisiana not only broke daily high temperature records, but they also broke all-time records, Lafayette, New Iberia, and New Orleans each did that.

And while most of our headlines, at least as far as the weather is concerned, have been about temperatures and tropical systems we haven't had too many stories about tornadoes touching down in Louisiana. The state experienced 35 tornado touchdowns in 2023, we had 61 of those in 2022. Yesterday certainly added to Louisiana's tornado total for 2024 with confirmed twisters in the Lake Charles area and Slidell. 

But what parishes are you most likely to encounter a tornado? The folks at Stacker.com took a look at data from NOAA, that's the government agency that includes the National Weather Service, and determined which parishes experience the most tornadoes in the state.

For residents of South Louisiana, Vermilion Parish would be your place of safety, at least according to the statistics. Vermilion Parish has experienced 21 tornadoes since the year 2000, that's a breakdown of 1.79 tornado touchdowns for every 100 square miles. Vermilion Parish was ranked #50, by the way.

Jeff Davis Parish was #31 on the Stacker list. According to the Stacker data Jeff Davis Parish has had 19 tornado touchdowns since the year 2000. That gives them an average of 2.92 tornadoes per 100 square miles.

At #24 on the Stacker compilation was Bossier Parish in North Louisiana. The Stacker data showed that Bossier Parish has experienced 26 tornado touchdowns since the year 2000. That's an average of 3.1 tornadoes per 100 square miles.

The 21st most likely parish to experience a tornado touchdown in Louisiana is Calcasieu Parish, that's Lake Charles. The parish has experienced 33 tornadoes since the year 2000. The Calcasieu Parish index is 3.29 tornadoes per 100 square miles.

East Baton Rouge Parish, the parish that is home to the state's capital city Baton Rouge was listed at #15 on the Stacker study. East Baton Rouge Parish has experienced 16 tornadoes since 2000 and their index is 3.51 per 100 square miles, according to Stacker.com.

#13 on the list of parishes that are most likely to experience a tornado is St. Landry Parish. That parish has experienced some 24 tornadoes since the year 2000 and there has already been a tornado touchdown reported in that parish this year. The St. Landry index according to Stacker is 3.68 per 100 square miles.

Caddo Parish, that's Shreveport, was listed at #5 on the Stacker study. Caddo has already experienced two tornadoes this year. Those storms increased Caddo's tornado total since 2000 to 49 confirmed touchdowns. The Caddo Parish index according to Stacker is 5.58 per 100 square miles.

#4 on the list is Lafayette Parish. Although the parish is geographically smaller than many other parishes, it gets more than its share of spinning storms. Lafayette Parish has not had a confirmed touchdown this year but since 2000 there have been 15 tornadoes reported which means the index for Lafayette is 5.58 per 100 square miles.

Acadia Parish is right behind Lafayette Parish at #3. The parish known for its rice fields and friendly people has experienced a confirmed tornadic touchdown already this year. The parish has an index of 6.26 tornadoes per 100 square miles based on the Stacker data. That data shows that Acadia Parish has had 41 confirmed tornadoes since the year 2000.

The parish, according to Stacker, that you're most likely to experience a tornado is Jefferson Parish, The second choice in the list is Orleans Parish so the Big Easy must be an "easy target" for Mother Nature. Jefferson Parish has not experienced a tornado this year but since the year 2000, they've had 31 confirmed which extrapalates into an index of 10.49 tornadoes per square mile.

For our purposes, we just hit some of the highlights of the Stacker.com study. You can see the entire breakdown of tornadoes in Louisiana and which parishes are you most likely to encounter a tornado when you visit Stacker right here.