New Orleans, Louisiana Climate
New Orleans weather by month — average highs and lows, rainfall, all-time records, and the warming record since 1893
- Hottest month
- 94°FAugust average high
- Coldest month
- 47°FJanuary average low
- Precipitation
- 64.6 ina year
- Wettest month
- July8.8 in on average
1991–2020 NOAA climate normals
At 6:17 AM CDT on Sep 21 it was 78°F in New Orleans — 6° above the 72°F typical for that hour (estimated from the Sep 21 normal high of 89°F and low of 72°F, interpolated from the monthly normals).
New Orleans weather by month
Average high, low, and rainfall for every month, from New Orleans’s 1991–2020 climate normals, the standard 30-year reference period. Each band runs from the month’s average low to its average high: a tall band is a big day-to-night swing.
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64°F | 47°F | 5.0 in |
| February | 68°F | 51°F | 4.1 in |
| March | 75°F | 56°F | 4.6 in |
| April | 81°F | 62°F | 5.0 in |
| May | 88°F | 69°F | 5.4 in |
| June | 93°F | 75°F | 7.4 in |
| July | 94°F | 77°F | 8.8 in |
| August | 94°F | 77°F | 6.8 in |
| September | 90°F | 74°F | 5.7 in |
| October | 83°F | 65°F | 3.6 in |
| November | 73°F | 55°F | 3.8 in |
| December | 66°F | 49°F | 4.5 in |
| Annual | 81°F | 63°F | 64.6 in |
New Orleans’s warming record since 1893
Not what a typical year looks like, but how the typical year has changed. Each stripe is one complete year’s average temperature at the station, 1893 to 2025, colored against the mean of those years: blue for cooler years, red for warmer ones. The figure under the stripes is the least-squares trend line fitted to 1893–2025 — New Orleans averages about 2.9°F warmer by that trend than in 1893.
Compared with the national rankingThe fastest-warming cities ranking fits every city to the same years, 1970–2025, so rates compare like for like. Over that window New Orleans warms at +0.48°F per decade, #44 of 66. The figure above uses the station’s own record, 1893–2025, so the two rates differ.
New Orleans rainfall by month
New Orleans averages 64.6 inches of precipitation a year. The wettest month is July and the driest is October.
New Orleans temperature records
- All-time record high
- 104°Fset June 24, 2009
- All-time record low
- 6°Fset February 13, 1899
Records are drawn from the nearest long-term weather station’s full daily history, so they capture the most extreme single day New Orleans has recorded — not a typical seasonal high or low.
Frequently asked
- What is the hottest month in New Orleans?
- August is New Orleans's hottest month, with the highest average daily high of the year. The month-by-month table above shows New Orleans's exact average high and low for each month, based on the 1991–2020 climate normals — the standard 30-year reference period meteorologists use.
- What is the coldest month in New Orleans?
- January is New Orleans's coldest month, with the lowest average daily low of the year. The averages-by-month chart above gives the exact average high and low for every month, so you can see how cold a typical winter day runs.
- How much does it rain in New Orleans?
- New Orleans's total annual precipitation and its wettest and driest months are shown in the rainfall-by-month section above. Those figures are 1991–2020 normals — the average monthly precipitation total across that 30-year window — so they reflect a typical year rather than any single wet or dry season.
- What months are best to visit New Orleans?
- The most comfortable months in New Orleans are usually the shoulder seasons — spring and fall — when temperatures sit between the summer peak and winter low and rainfall is moderate. Compare the average high, low, and precipitation for each month in the table above to pick the window that fits the weather you want.
- Has New Orleans gotten hotter?
- Yes. The warming-stripes chart above plots New Orleans's annual mean temperature for every complete year of station data from 1893 to 2025, and the trend line fitted to 1893–2025 rises about 2.9°F (+0.22°F per decade) — recent decades average warmer than the start of that window.
- What is the record high temperature in New Orleans?
- New Orleans's all-time record high — the hottest single day in the station record — is shown in the records section above, along with the date it occurred. Records are drawn from the nearest long-term weather station's full daily history, which begins in 1893, so they capture the most extreme heat on record, not just a typical summer day.
- What is the record low temperature in New Orleans?
- New Orleans's all-time record low and the date it was set appear in the records section above. Like the record high, it comes from the station's full daily history back to 1893, so it reflects the coldest day on record rather than an average winter low.