New Orleans, LA Tornado History — 126 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has New Orleans, LA had?
New Orleans has had 126 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 5 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near New Orleans?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of New Orleans was an EF0 on May 2, 2025.
When is tornado season in New Orleans?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near New Orleans, with 20 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near New Orleans
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 54 total, averaging 2.7 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near New Orleans since December 29, 2025
These are 5 preliminary reports, not confirmed tornadoes. They have not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and are not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of New Orleans. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near New Orleans
6 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of New Orleans since 1950, across 5 events. 206 injuries have been reported across all events. 2022 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F3 on August 25, 1992, which caused 2 fatalities along a 9.0-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near New Orleans
About Tornadoes in New Orleans
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Orleans Parish occupies a low deltaic plain wedged between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, and that setting matters for its tornado climate. Warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico is almost always close at hand, so when cold fronts, strong jet-stream winds, or landfalling tropical systems cross southeastern Louisiana, the ingredients for rotating thunderstorms come together quickly — often in winter and early spring, when severe weather has faded elsewhere in the United States.
The parish's history includes genuinely intense tornadoes. A violent F4 struck on December 6, 1983, injuring 25 people along a seven-mile path through the metropolitan area. An F3 tornado on August 26, 1992, spawned as Hurricane Andrew moved inland, killed 2 people and injured 32 more.
Recent decades have kept the threat current. An EF3 tornado tore across the eastern side of New Orleans on February 7, 2017, injuring 33 people, and another EF3 followed a similar corridor on March 23, 2022, killing 1 person. EF2 tornadoes moved through the area on December 14, 2022. The event list elsewhere on this page draws on the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, the standard source for these damage tracks.