The climate of New Orleans: when to go to New Orleans

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New Orleans has a humid subtropical climate characterized by hot and rainy summers and mild, relatively less rainy winters. The rains are distributed throughout the year but the peak of rainfall occurs in the summer months between June and August. June is the wettest month with an average of over 200 mm of rain. October is the driest month with an average of 90 mm of rain. New Orleans has an annual average of 115 rainy days, varying monthly between 13.6 rainy days in July and 6.9 rainy days in April. The sunny hours are 2,649 per year.

Hurricanes are a characteristic of the climate of the city, New Orleans is in fact among the American cities most at risk from hurricanes and among the most vulnerable to floods due to its low altitude – between -2 and -6 meters below sea level – and proximity to bodies of water. The hurricane season for New Orleans runs from early June to late November, the peak of the hurricane season runs from mid-August to the end of September.

New Orleans temperatures are very hot in the summer months. In the hottest months of July and August the average maximum temperatures reach 32.9 ° C. While the average minimum temperatures reach 24.1 ° C. In the summer months, in addition to the high temperatures, the high humidity makes the climate oppressive, in these months the humidity reaches an average of 80%. In the coldest month, January, the average maximum temperatures reach 16.7 ° C . While the average minimum temperatures reach 7.1 ° C.

WHEN TO GO TO NEW ORLEANS

The best time of year to visit New Orleans are the winter and spring months between December and May. In these months the rain is less intense and there are no risks of hurricanes, also these are also the months in which the most important events of the city take place such as Mardi Gras and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Even the months of October and November can be good from the point of view of the rains, but in these months of the occasional hurricanes can hit the city, even if the peak of the hurricane season goes from mid-August to the end of September. The months of June, July and August – which are very hot and humid, and have a high risk of hurricanes – are to be avoided.

THE CLIMATE OF NEW ORLEANS: CLIMATE TABLES

NEW ORLEANS (1 meter)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	7,1	16,7	130	9,3
February	8,9	18,6	134	8,8
March	11,9	22,1	115	8,3
April	15,6	25,7	117	6,9
May	20,1	29,6	117	7,7
June	23,1	31,9	204	12,9
July	24,1	32,9	150	13,6
August	24,1	32,9	152	13,1
September	22,2	30,8	126	9,4
October	17,0	26,7	90	7,7
November	11,9	22,1	114	7,9
December	8,3	18,0	133	9,2
YEAR	16,2	25,7	1586	114,8