Climate and average weather in Zachary

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

Best: late February to mid May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Zachary typically varies from 42°F to 91°F, and is rarely below 27°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 Zachary for warm-weather activities are from late February to mid May and early October to early December.

Hottest
Aug
91°
Coldest
Jan
42°
Wettest
Jan
5.1 in
Driest
Oct
3.4 in
Rain / yr
53.1 in
128 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
102 ft
30.6°N
Clearest
Oct
42% cloud

Zachary is city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States.

Density
265/km²
people per km²
Founded
1889

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

Zachary 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 late February to mid May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.8 months, from May 11 to October 4, with daily high temperatures above 83°F. The hottest month of the year in Zachary is August, with an average high of 91°F and low of 73°F.

The cool season lasts 2.8 months, from November 29 to February 21, with daily high temperatures below 66°F. The coldest month of the year in Zachary is January, with an average low of 42°F and high of 60°F.

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

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan6042
Feb6445
Mar7151
Apr7757
May8465
Jun8972
Jul9074
Aug9173
Sep8769
Oct7959
Nov6949
Dec6244

How hot and cold Zachary 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, Zachary feels like about 100°F (around August 3). About 115 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)
Jan60603742
Feb64644145
Mar71715051
Apr77775757
May86846565
Jun95897272
Jul99907474
Aug99917373
Sep91876969
Oct80795959
Nov69694749
Dec62624044

Average hourly temperature in Zachary

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 42°F.

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

Zachary 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
Jan60° / 42°5.19.610.25.0
Feb64° / 45°4.69.410.95.7
Mar71° / 51°4.810.311.86.6
Apr77° / 57°4.59.212.77.0
May84° / 65°4.09.713.55.6
Jun89° / 72°4.613.413.93.8
Jul90° / 74°4.916.613.83.2
Aug91° / 73°5.015.413.13.2
Sep87° / 69°3.89.912.24.7
Oct79° / 59°3.47.211.27.2
Nov69° / 49°3.78.110.46.9
Dec62° / 44°4.89.310.15.5

Chance of rain

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

Zachary gets about 53.1 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 3.7 months, from around May 24 to Sep 13, peaking in July at about 56% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 8.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 5.1 in over about 10 wet days; October is the driest, with 3.4 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 16 · 56%Oct 8 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3110
Feb339
Mar3310
Apr309
May3110
Jun4513
Jul5317
Aug4915
Sep3410
Oct247
Nov278
Dec309

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zachary collects about 53.1 in of rain across 128 wet days — roughly 4.4 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 5.1 in, while October is the driest at just 3.4 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 28% of the year’s total.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec5.14.64.84.54.04.64.95.03.83.43.74.8
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan5.110
Feb4.69
Mar4.810
Apr4.59
May4.010
Jun4.613
Jul4.917
Aug5.015
Sep3.810
Oct3.47
Nov3.78
Dec4.89

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zachary, 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 November 30. 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 1 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around April 15. The cloudiest month is February, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 1 · 66%Dec 31 · 43%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4555
Feb4555
Mar4852
Apr5347
May5941
Jun5545
Jul4852
Aug4951
Sep6040
Oct6535
Nov5941
Dec4753

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 13, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.27:075:20
Feb10.96:525:46
Mar11.86:216:07
Apr12.75:436:27
May13.55:156:47
Jun13.95:067:04
Jul13.85:167:04
Aug13.15:356:42
Sep12.25:536:04
Oct11.26:125:27
Nov10.46:375:03
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.

Zachary 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 3.0 months, from around Sep 9 to Dec 7. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 8 sunny days — about 49% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightOct 316 daysJul 257 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May12Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul8Gloomy
Aug9Mixed
Sep13Mixed
Oct16Bright
Nov14Mixed
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 Zachary, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around April 26 to October 10. 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 11 to April 25, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 89% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 23 · 91%Jul 11 · 0%miserablecomfortablehumidmuggyoppressivedrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan8098300
Feb721111500
Mar5517181000
Apr3618232030
May12102037200
Jun12722635
Jul00277120
Aug124126220
Sep881124445
Oct36151719121
Nov641313820
Dec741010500

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 Zachary 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 24 to May 15. The windiest month is February, averaging about 7 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 16 to Oct 23, with August the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 28 · 7 mphAug 7 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Zachary

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early March, Zachary is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Zachary for general outdoor tourist activities run from late February to mid May and again from early October to early December, with a peak score in the last week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 28 · 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
Jan5.0fair
Feb5.7good
Mar6.6good
Apr7.0good
May5.6good
Jun3.9fair
Jul3.2poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep4.7fair
Oct7.1good
Nov6.9good
Dec5.5good

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 Zachary for hot-weather activities run from early April to mid June and again from early September to late October, with a peak score in the first week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 3 · 7.6

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 Zachary, 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 60°F), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Zachary sees daytime highs around 91°F and nights near 73°F. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Zachary 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 Zachary peaks around July 13 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highVery highHighModerateJul 13UV 10Dec 20UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb6High
Mar6High
Apr10Very high
May10Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov5Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Zachary

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 5.5 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)
Jan3.50
Feb50
Mar62
Apr7.55
May85.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.55
Sep74.5
Oct5.50
Nov4.50
Dec2.50

Air quality in Zachary 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 Zachary 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%)

Zachary is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about February 19 to November 28 (283 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeFeb 1990%Nov 2890%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan8131
Feb8915
Mar970
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov940
Dec8628

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. Zachary banks about 6,500 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)
Jan34
Feb132
Mar340
Apr520
May769
Jun910
Jul995
Aug992
Sep847
Oct590
Nov274
Dec96

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.

Zachary receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Mar 18 to Oct 2. The brightest month is May, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.6 kWh/m² — roughly 57% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 206.2 kWhDec 252.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.8Moderate
Feb3.5Moderate
Mar4.6Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May6.2Intense
Jun6.1Intense
Jul6.0Bright
Aug5.6Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov3.3Moderate
Dec2.6Moderate

Where is Zachary?

Zachary sits at 30.6°N, 91.2°W, 102 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Central, 9.9 mi away.

Topography around Zachary

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Zachary has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 95 ft around an average of 108 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 259 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 535 ft.

The land around Zachary is covered by trees (65%) and grassland (23%) within 2 miles, trees (66%) and grassland (25%) within 10 miles, and trees (75%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
95 ft
10 miles
259 ft
50 miles
535 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Central 9.9 mi · Baton Rouge 14 mi · Shenandoah 19 mi · Prairieville 26 mi · Hammond 42 mi · Opelousas 55 mi · Laplace 57 mi · Lafayette 59 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 Zachary (30.6485°, -91.1565°, elevation 102 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. 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).