Lafayette, Louisiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lafayette's normal year runs from 44°F January nights to 92°F August afternoons, with 62.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 20.8°C, January lows of 6°C, August highs of 34°C, 1,595 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLafayette Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00013976
- Location30.20°N 91.99°W
- Elevation38 ft (12 m)
- Population122,280
On October 23, the normal high in Lafayette is 79°F and the normal low 57°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lafayette.
- Jan 62° 44°
- Feb 66° 47°
- Mar 73° 53°
- Apr 79° 59°
- May 86° 67°
- Jun 90° 73°
- Jul 92° 75°
- Aug 92° 75°
- Sep 89° 70°
- Oct 81° 60°
- Nov 72° 50°
- Dec 64° 45°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Lafayette each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 44°F. The most precipitation falls in June (7.09 in), the least in March (3.72 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62°F | 44°F | 52.8°F | 5.92 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 66°F | 47°F | 56.8°F | 4.07 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 73°F | 53°F | 62.9°F | 3.72 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 12 h |
| April | 79°F | 59°F | 69.2°F | 4.91 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 86°F | 67°F | 76.5°F | 5.44 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 90°F | 73°F | 81.6°F | 7.09 | 12 | 18 | <1 | 14 h |
| July | 92°F | 75°F | 83.3°F | 6.27 | 14 | 23 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 92°F | 75°F | 83.5°F | 6.26 | 12 | 25 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 89°F | 70°F | 79.7°F | 5.02 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 60°F | 70.7°F | 4.76 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 72°F | 50°F | 60.8°F | 4.39 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 64°F | 45°F | 54.9°F | 4.96 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 60°F | 69.4°F | 62.81 | 118 | 91 | 11 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 6°C | 11.6°C | 150 mm |
| February | 19°C | 9°C | 13.8°C | 103 mm |
| March | 23°C | 12°C | 17.2°C | 94 mm |
| April | 26°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 125 mm |
| May | 30°C | 20°C | 24.7°C | 138 mm |
| June | 32°C | 23°C | 27.6°C | 180 mm |
| July | 33°C | 24°C | 28.5°C | 159 mm |
| August | 34°C | 24°C | 28.6°C | 159 mm |
| September | 32°C | 21°C | 26.5°C | 128 mm |
| October | 27°C | 16°C | 21.5°C | 121 mm |
| November | 22°C | 10°C | 16.0°C | 112 mm |
| December | 18°C | 7°C | 12.7°C | 126 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013976; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Lafayette?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (8).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013976.
When is the last frost in Lafayette?
In Lafayette, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 13 in half of years and after March 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 4 in half of years and before November 13 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- February 131 year in 10 after March 10; 9 in 10 after January 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 41 year in 10 before November 13; 9 in 10 before January 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 299 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 337 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 27 in half of springs and before December 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lafayette in zone 9a across its 5 ZIP code areas (9a in 70508, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lafayette's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Louisiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013976; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
What hardiness zone is each Lafayette ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Lafayette's 5 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Lafayette?
In a normal year in Lafayette, 91 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 11 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 91a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 11a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on August 27, 2023; the lowest is 4°F, on January 22, 2025.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 81.07 in; the snowiest season is 1894–95, with 14.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013976; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00013976. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Lafayette, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 73°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 74°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in December (44°F). February is the windiest month (8.7 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (76%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 72% | 54% | 8.1 mph | 54% | 36% |
| February | 49°F | 71% | 54% | 8.7 mph | 52% | 35% |
| March | 56°F | 72% | 53% | 8.2 mph | 55% | 27% |
| April | 62°F | 71% | 51% | 7.9 mph | 62% | 19% |
| May | 70°F | 76% | 57% | 6.1 mph | 65% | 11% |
| June | 73°F | 78% | 62% | 5.2 mph | 71% | 9% |
| July | 74°F | 77% | 60% | 5.0 mph | 73% | 7% |
| August | 72°F | 77% | 59% | 5.3 mph | 75% | 9% |
| September | 65°F | 75% | 52% | 6.0 mph | 76% | 11% |
| October | 55°F | 74% | 49% | 6.2 mph | 70% | 16% |
| November | 48°F | 75% | 53% | 7.1 mph | 60% | 26% |
| December | 44°F | 74% | 56% | 7.9 mph | 55% | 34% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013976. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Lafayette?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lafayette, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. October is the sunniest month (83%) and February the cloudiest (68%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 210th (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.9 |
| February | 68% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.6 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 81% | 6.2 |
| June | 79% | 6.1 |
| July | 79% | 5.9 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 83% | 4.4 |
| November | 80% | 3.4 |
| December | 70% | 2.6 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Lafayette need?
A normal year in Lafayette brings 1,377 heating degree days, 74% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,007 cooling degree days, 3.3 times the median (908). Two months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 7,303 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 392 | 15 |
| February | 256 | 25 |
| March | 137 | 73 |
| April | 38 | 162 |
| May | 2 | 360 |
| June | 0 | 499 |
| July | 0 | 567 |
| August | 0 | 573 |
| September | 0 | 441 |
| October | 34 | 210 |
| November | 179 | 54 |
| December | 340 | 25 |
| Year (annual) | 1,377 | 3,007 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013976. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Lafayette been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 70.1°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 69.4°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69.6°F | +0.2°F | 79.44 |
| 2022 | 69.6°F | +0.2°F | 56.00 |
| 2023 | 72.8°F | +3.4°F | 46.49 |
| 2024 | 72.1°F | +2.7°F | 71.24 |
| 2025 | 70.1°F | +0.7°F | 72.41 |
Over 110 complete years from 1892 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013976; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lafayette's climate compare?
Lafayette is warmer than 53 of the other 64 places with their own NOAA record in Louisiana, and wetter than 43. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 69.4°F is warmer than 94%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lafayette is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Lafayette share this climate record?
9 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Youngsville, LA19,038 people · 8 mi S
- Broussard, LA15,312 people · 5 mi S
- Scott, LA9,468 people · 7 mi W
- Breaux Bridge, LA7,582 people · 7 mi NE
- Maurice, LA3,071 people · 11 mi SW
- Milton, LA2,123 people · 8 mi SW
- Ossun, LA1,940 people · 9 mi NW
- Henderson, LA1,605 people · 13 mi NE
- Cecilia, LA1,517 people · 12 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Lafayette's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Lafayette. This page uses Lafayette Regional Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette (13 mi SE) USW00053960 | 10 mi SE | 35 ft | 67.8°F | 43°F | 90°F | 66.8 | – | February 19 |
| Lafayette station USC00165021 | 5 mi W | 25 ft | 68.1°F | 41°F | 91°F | 64.7 | 0 | February 26 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Lafayette's climate
What is the coldest month in Lafayette?
January, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 44°F. The warmest is August (92°F by day, 75°F at night).
Does it snow in Lafayette?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lafayette's NOAA station; Lafayette's own co-op station Lafayette station records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lafayette?
June, with 7.09 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is March with 3.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lafayette in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lafayette in zone 9a across its 5 ZIP code areas (9a in 70508, the largest). By the same method at Lafayette's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Lafayette?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 13; in one year in ten it comes after March 10. Waiting until March 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lafayette in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Louisiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- St. Martinville, LA11 miles from this station, 67.9°F a year
- New Iberia, LA13 miles from this station, 69.2°F a year
- Grand Coteau, LA15 miles from this station, 68.3°F a year
- Crowley, LA22 miles from this station, 68.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made