What are the most extreme temperatures, rain totals in Louisiana history?

FILE – Buildings and homes are flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, near Lake Charles, La. In the past year, the southwestern Louisiana city of Lake Charles weathered two hurricanes, intense rainfall that sent water gushing down streets and a deep freeze that burst pipes. Under a revamped federal flood insurance program rolled out in the fall of 2021, millions of homeowners are set for rate hikes that officials say more accurately reflect a property’s risk. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

by: Stacker

Posted: Apr 11, 2022 / 02:00 PM AST

Updated: Apr 11, 2022 / 01:24 PM AST

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(Stacker) — On July 9, 2021, California’s Death Valley reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to an automated measuring system there, representing one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on the planet. The world record, also recorded at Death Valley, was 134 degrees in July 1913.

More than 210 degrees Fahrenheit separates the highest and the lowest temperatures on record in the United States, the third-largest country in the world. As some states are infamous for having blistering hot summers, others become inundated by winter storms and frigid cold. The contiguous U.S. had its warmest meteorological summer (June-August) on record in 2021, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Stacker consulted 2021 data from the NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to illustrate the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.

Louisiana by the numbers

All-time highest temperature: 114° F, Plain Dealing on Aug. 10, 1936.
All-time lowest temperature: -16° F, Minden on Feb. 13, 1899.
All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 22 inches, Hackberry 8 SSW on Aug. 28–29, 1962.
All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 13 inches, Colfax on Feb. 13, 1960.

Hackberry, a community in Cameron Parish, witnessed the state’s heaviest rainfall between Aug. 28 and 29 in 1962. A tropical depression that had first formed in the western Gulf of Mexico eventually struck the Texas and Louisiana border two days later before finally subsiding on Aug. 30, 1962. In August 2016, the state of Louisiana suffered from devastating flooding. More than 100,000 houses were destroyed, and over 10,000 people had to move to shelters.

Article has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1.