Weather in Baton Rouge in August

A hard month. August asks something of you. Go in knowing what. You should expect rain on 21 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

August ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of Baton Rouge's year. November is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 42 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 21 of the month's 31 days, 5 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Pack for 32.8 °C days and 23.4 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 6 days clear 35 °C, so a serious heatwave is normal rather than notable. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest August day reached 40.3 °C and the coldest night fell to 13.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 188 mm — roughly 113% of the month's rain in one day.

August is moderately variable: 53 mm in the driest year against 465 mm in the wettest, around an average of 166 mm. Roughly two Augusts in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 4.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 79%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How August sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 32.7 °C in July, 32.8 here, 31.1 in September. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: September brings 8 days less of it, so pushing the dates later buys drier weather.

Daylight in August

13.3 hours of daylight, losing 0.8 hours across the month. That is between Baton Rouge's extremes of 14.1 and 10.2 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 28.5 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

August in Baton Rouge versus nearby

If Baton Rouge is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. New Orleans is a better bet in August — 2.1 °C cooler, 3 days more rain. Jackson is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 4 days less rain.

So: August is a compromise. November is 42 points better and is what Baton Rouge is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Baton Rouge

See all twelve months in Baton Rouge, or where else to go in August.