Lafayette, AL Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Lafayette's primary NOAA station, LAFAYETTE 2W.
The climate verdict for Lafayette
Water is the standout signal in Lafayette, Alabama: 56.5 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 61°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 61°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 56.5"
- precipitation, annual total
- 204 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Lafayette: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00014502 · Lafayette, AL 61°F mean · 56.5" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 61°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,352
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Altus Dam
- PRCP-WET 56.5"
- SWING-MID 36°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00014502
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Altus Dam, OK (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every AL station list.
- Lafayette (this station) 61°F
- Hot Avalon Catalina, CA 61°F
- Near Altus Dam, OK 61°F
- Near Ames Plantation, TN 61°F
- Near Auburn, CA 61°F
Climate Living Index · Lafayette
Lafayette: 69/100 · grade C
Lafayette publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lafayette, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 70 calendar days | 85/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 61.2°F · 6.3° from 67.5°F | 80/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 204 days/year | 67/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 56.5 in · 21.5 from 35 in | 23/100 · F |
Lafayette · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lafayette is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 42.9°F and warmest-month mean 78.7°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 78.7°F
- Coldest month
- 42.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Lafayette sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lafayette's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 22% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Lafayette sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 9% wettest
- Lafayette's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 80%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Lafayette is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lafayette compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lafayette's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Lafayette's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 43 complete annual observations from 1950 to 2025, LAFAYETTE 2W warmed at a fitted rate of 0.08°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Lafayette primary station fitted change +0.08 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F (13°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 5.7" | 18.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 5.3" | 13.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 5.7" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 75°F (24°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 4.8" | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 82°F (28°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 4.4" | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| June | 87°F (31°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 11.6 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 19.0 |
| August | 89°F (32°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 16.6 |
| September | 84°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.5" | 0.0 | 7.2 |
| October | 75°F (24°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.6" | 1.8 | 0.5 |
| November | 65°F (19°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 4.3" | 10.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 58°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 5.6" | 16.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Lafayette works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 90°F by July 17 and hold at or above 90°F on 24 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 46 dates, bottoming at 30°F around January 13.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 11 through August 3, covering 24 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 25 to October 31.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 5, then returns to freezing around December 22, covering 46 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 1, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 18 at 23%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 111 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 6 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lafayette.
Where Lafayette Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 57 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Lafayette earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
10.4 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
10.2 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
Lafayette spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 24% of the annual total and December through February 29%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lafayette has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 35.8°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: January averages 5.7" and September 3.5". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Lafayette, it arrives in quantity
56.5" of precipitation falls across only about 110 wet days here, averaging 0.51 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 110 a year, 30% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.51 inches
- Most wet days
- July, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 7
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 30
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 9
50% probability date
Growing Season
204 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,958
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,602
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AL closest to Lafayette on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (61°F here).
- Auburn, CA 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Camden, SC 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Chickamauga, GA 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Dallas, GA 61°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (56.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hernando, MS 56.5" · 0.0" off
- Tunica, MS 56.5" · 0.0" off
- Gainesboro, TN 56.5" · 0.0" off
- Lexington, MS 56.5" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Lafayette's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Lafayette averages 56.5 inches of precipitation a year. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Lafayette's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 35.8°F. The annual average is 61°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Lafayette's normal, at 2,958 and 1,602 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 204-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Lafayette's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Lafayette, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Lafayette's climate
How much rain does Lafayette get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Lafayette get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lafayette? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lafayette's primary station: LAFAYETTE 2W (USC00014502). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Lafayette; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Lafayette comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.