Hurricane Laura devastated the city in 2020. Source: NOAA (relative humidity 1961–1990) cities, at 57.49 inches (1,460 mm) per year.Ĭlimate data for Lake Charles Regional Airport, Louisiana (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–present) Average annual precipitation is also high among U.S. The average relative humidity in Lake Charles is 90% in the morning, and 72% in the afternoon. Lake Charles is tied with Port Arthur, Texas, and Astoria, Oregon, as the most humid city in the contiguous United States, and the second-most humid measured location behind unincorporated Quillayute, Washington. The Calcasieu Ship Channel, which allows large ocean-going vessels to sail up from the Gulf, also borders the city.Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.8 square miles (116.0 km 2), of which 42.0 square miles (108.9 km 2) is land and 2.7 square miles (7.1 km 2), or 6.12%, is water. Oak trees and pine trees dot the landscape the lumber industry was once the main economic engine of the area.

Contraband Bayou, Henderson Bayou, and English Bayou flow through the city. It borders both Lake Charles and Prien Lake. Lake Charles, located on a level plain about 30 miles (48 km) from the Gulf of Mexico, has an elevation of approximately 13 feet (4.0 m) above sea level, and is located on the banks of the Calcasieu River in southwestern Louisiana. The southern portion of the city was damaged by an EF2 tornado on October 27, 2021. In 2020, it was battered by two hurricanes, Category 4 Hurricane Laura on August 26–27, and Hurricane Delta on October 9, 2020. In 2005, the city was heavily damaged by Hurricane Rita. By 1991, the incomplete base was dropped from the program and shuttered. Support ships were to be operated from the new Naval Station Lake Charles but with the tailing-off of the Cold War, the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended it be closed. In 1985, the city was identified as a potential Strategic Homeport to support Navy Secretary John Lehman's desire for a 600-ship Navy. The city grew to a high of some 75,000 people in the early 1980s, but with local economic recession, the population declined and stagnated.

During and after World War II, Lake Charles experienced industrial growth with the arrival of petrochemical refineries. The Charleston Hotel was completed in 1929, during the administration of Mayor Henry J.

Lake Charles soon rebuilt, grew and expanded in the twentieth century. The Great Fire of April 1910 devastated much of the city. Ten years later, on March 16, 1867, Charleston was reincorporated as the City of Lake Charles. The town was first incorporated in 1857 as Charleston, after an early settler, Charles Sallier. There are also urban tales he had planned to name the settlement Nouveau Cadix (New Cádiz)', after the city in Spain, but this is uncertain. Eliche had also founded other outposts and towns in Louisiana prior, most notably Marksville, which is named after him. Long before incorporation and even before the Louisiana Purchase, other names for Lake Charles were Porte du Lafitte (Port of Jean Lafitte) or Rivière Lafitte (River Lafitte/Lafitte's River), among many other names now lost. He had arrived in Louisiana after hitchhiking and was invited onto a Spanish vessel due to his determination and loyalty to volunteer and work freely for the Spanish Empire. He was a Sephardic Jewish trader of either Basque-Spanish or Venetian-Italian origins. Lake Charles was founded by merchant and tradesman Marco Eliche (or Marco de Élitxe) as an outpost. On March 7, 1861, Lake Charles was incorporated as the town of Charleston, Louisiana.

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