No active hurricanes threatening New Orleans right now

Could the next one hit soon? 180 hurricanes have impacted the New Orleans area since 1852 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

180
Hurricanes affecting New Orleans area
2024
Most recent
150 kt
Strongest peak winds
5 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Much of New Orleans sits at or below sea level behind levees, making storm surge and catastrophic flooding the dominant threats — Hurricane Ida (2021) and Katrina (2005) underscored how levee breaches and prolonged rainfall can devastate the city.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the New Orleans area — including Gretna, Metairie, Harvey, Westwego, Marrero, Belle Chasse, Kenner, Barataria. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the New Orleans area?

Distribution of 180 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of New Orleans, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
1 M
14 J
23 J
38 A
72 S
30 O
2 N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the New Orleans area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 FRANCINE Cat 2 90 kt 40 mi
2021 IDA Cat 4 130 kt 32 mi
2021 NICHOLAS Cat 1 65 kt 99 mi
2020 ZETA Cat 3 100 kt 20 mi
2020 MARCO Cat 1 65 kt 87 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 127 mi
2020 DELTA Cat 4 120 kt 161 mi
2020 LAURA Cat 4 130 kt 194 mi
2019 BARRY Cat 1 65 kt 112 mi
2017 NATE Cat 1 80 kt 71 mi
2017 HARVEY Cat 4 115 kt 176 mi
2012 ISAAC Cat 1 70 kt 46 mi
2009 IDA Cat 2 90 kt 89 mi
2008 GUSTAV Cat 4 135 kt 65 mi
2007 HUMBERTO Cat 1 80 kt 178 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2007 that came within 200 miles of New Orleans. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to New Orleans

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1975 UNNAMED TD 30 kt 5 mi Oct 17, 1975
1948 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 6 mi Sep 04, 1948
2002 ISIDORE Cat 3 110 kt 11 mi Sep 26, 2002
1915 UNNAMED Cat 4 125 kt 12 mi Sep 30, 1915
1971 FERN Cat 1 80 kt 14 mi Sep 06, 1971
2020 CRISTOBAL TS 50 kt 15 mi Jun 08, 2020
1975 UNNAMED TD 30 kt 17 mi Jul 30, 1975
1892 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 18 mi Sep 12, 1892
2020 ZETA Cat 3 100 kt 20 mi Oct 29, 2020
1971 UNNAMED TD 25 kt 20 mi Aug 09, 1971
Showing the 10 closest of 180 total storms within 150 mi of New Orleans since 1852.

If a hurricane threatens New Orleans

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Orleans Parish and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for New Orleans

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between New Orleans (29.9605°N, 90.0753°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of New Orleans — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.