Climate and average weather in Baton Rouge

In Baton Rouge, the summers are muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are mild and partly cloudy.

Best: mid February to early May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Baton Rouge typically varies from 43°F to 91°F, and is rarely below 29°F or above 96°F. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Baton Rouge for warm-weather activities are from mid February to early May and early October to mid December.

Hottest
Aug
91°
Coldest
Jan
43°
Wettest
Aug
5.2 in
Driest
Oct
3.4 in
Rain / yr
53.2 in
128 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
46 ft
30.4°N
Clearest
Oct
42% cloud

Baton Rouge is capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana and seat of East Baton Rouge Parish.

Density
997/km²
people per km²
Founded
1719

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Baton Rouge weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid February to early May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Baton Rouge, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.9 months, from May 9 to October 4, with daily high temperatures above 84°F. The hottest month of the year in Baton Rouge is August, with an average high of 91°F and low of 74°F.

The cool season lasts 2.8 months, from November 30 to February 21, with daily high temperatures below 67°F. The coldest month of the year in Baton Rouge is January, with an average low of 43°F and high of 61°F.

Days typically run about 19°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan6143
Feb6546
Mar7252
Apr7858
May8566
Jun8972
Jul9174
Aug9174
Sep8870
Oct8059
Nov7050
Dec6445

How hot and cold Baton Rouge really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Baton Rouge feels like about 101°F (around August 9). About 120 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in August.

40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan61613843
Feb65654246
Mar72725152
Apr78785858
May87856666
Jun96897272
Jul100917474
Aug100917474
Sep92887070
Oct80805959
Nov70704850
Dec63644145

Average hourly temperature in Baton Rouge

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on August afternoons, near 91°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 43°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Baton Rouge weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan61° / 43°4.99.410.35.2
Feb65° / 46°4.58.910.96.0
Mar72° / 52°4.69.811.86.8
Apr78° / 58°4.58.812.77.0
May85° / 66°4.19.513.55.5
Jun89° / 72°4.713.713.93.7
Jul91° / 74°5.217.113.83.1
Aug91° / 74°5.215.713.13.2
Sep88° / 70°3.910.712.24.5
Oct80° / 59°3.47.611.37.1
Nov70° / 50°3.57.710.57.1
Dec64° / 45°4.59.410.15.8

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Baton Rouge gets about 53.2 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.8 months, from around May 24 to Sep 17, peaking in July at about 57% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Nov 7.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 5.2 in over about 16 wet days; October is the driest, with 3.4 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 17 · 57%Nov 7 · 24%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan319
Feb329
Mar3110
Apr299
May3110
Jun4514
Jul5517
Aug5116
Sep3611
Oct258
Nov268
Dec309

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Baton Rouge collects about 53.2 in of rain across 128 wet days — roughly 4.4 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 5.2 in, while October is the driest at just 3.4 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4.94.54.64.54.14.75.25.23.93.43.54.5
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan4.99
Feb4.59
Mar4.610
Apr4.59
May4.110
Jun4.714
Jul5.217
Aug5.216
Sep3.911
Oct3.48
Nov3.58
Dec4.59

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Baton Rouge, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around September 4 and lasts for 2.9 months, ending around December 1. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 2 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around April 13. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 55% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 30 · 66%Jan 1 · 43%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4555
Feb4555
Mar4951
Apr5446
May6040
Jun5545
Jul4753
Aug4852
Sep6040
Oct6535
Nov6040
Dec4852

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 16, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.37:075:21
Feb10.96:525:46
Mar11.86:216:08
Apr12.75:436:27
May13.55:156:47
Jun13.95:067:04
Jul13.85:177:04
Aug13.15:356:42
Sep12.25:546:05
Oct11.36:125:27
Nov10.56:375:03
Dec10.17:005:02

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Baton Rouge averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 16 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.9 months, from around Sep 9 to Dec 6. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 8 sunny days — about 51% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightOct 2016 daysJul 277 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May12Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul8Gloomy
Aug9Mixed
Sep13Mixed
Oct16Bright
Nov13Mixed
Dec11Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Baton Rouge, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around April 24 to October 11. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 12 to April 23, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 88% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 24 · 90%Jul 11 · 0%miserablecomfortablehumidmuggyoppressivedrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan7998400
Feb711212600
Mar5217191200
Apr3417222340
May1191935251
Jun126196210
Jul00266528
Aug013105630
Sep761122469
Oct34151620141
Nov621414920
Dec731010610

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Baton Rouge is typically calm, near 6 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Oct 23 to May 14. The windiest month is February, averaging about 7 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 15 to Oct 22, with August the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 28 · 7 mphAug 6 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Baton Rouge

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Baton Rouge sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

Atlantic hurricane
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Baton Rouge

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Baton Rouge throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late April, Baton Rouge is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Baton Rouge for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid February to early May and again from early October to mid December, with a peak score in the last week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 31 · 7.6

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.3fair
Feb6.0good
Mar6.8good
Apr7.0good
May5.5fair
Jun3.7fair
Jul3.1poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep4.5fair
Oct7.0good
Nov7.1good
Dec5.8good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Baton Rouge for hot-weather activities run from early April to mid June and again from early September to early November, with a peak score in the first week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 4 · 7.5

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Baton Rouge, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around August (highs near 91°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 61°F), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Baton Rouge sees daytime highs around 91°F and nights near 74°F. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 16 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Baton Rouge by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Baton Rouge peaks around July 13 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 4 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 13UV 10Dec 20UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb6High
Mar6High
Apr10Very high
May10Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct6High
Nov5Moderate
Dec4Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Baton Rouge

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan40
Feb50
Mar62
Apr7.55
May85.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.56
Aug7.55
Sep74.5
Oct5.50
Nov4.50
Dec30

Air quality in Baton Rouge by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Baton Rouge is worst in July — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.8× the cleanest month (January, 9 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1623 µg/m³Jan 249 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb9Good
Mar11Good
Apr11Good
May15Moderate
Jun19Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug18Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct12Good
Nov10Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Baton Rouge is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about February 15 to December 3 (292 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeFeb 1590%Dec 390%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan8331
Feb906
Mar970
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov950
Dec8716

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Baton Rouge banks about 6,748 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan63
Feb157
Mar365
Apr543
May790
Jun924
Jul1,006
Aug1,002
Sep860
Oct612
Nov299
Dec125

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Baton Rouge receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.6 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around Mar 17 to Oct 2. The brightest month is May, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 57% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 206.2 kWhDec 252.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.9Moderate
Feb3.5Moderate
Mar4.6Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May6.2Intense
Jun6.1Intense
Jul5.9Bright
Aug5.6Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov3.3Moderate
Dec2.6Moderate

Where is Baton Rouge?

Baton Rouge sits at 30.4°N, 91.2°W, 46 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Shenandoah, 11 mi away.

What Baton Rouge looks like

Topography around Baton Rouge

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Baton Rouge.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Baton Rouge has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 89 ft around an average of 39 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 148 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 482 ft.

The land around Baton Rouge is covered by artificial surfaces (35%) and trees (30%) within 2 miles, trees (49%) within 10 miles, and trees (69%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
89 ft
10 miles
148 ft
50 miles
482 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Shenandoah 11 mi · Central 12 mi · Zachary 14 mi · Prairieville 16 mi · Hammond 43 mi · New Iberia 48 mi · Laplace 50 mi · Lafayette 52 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Baton Rouge (30.4433°, -91.1875°, elevation 46 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).