Weather in New Orleans in July

A hard month. July is a hard month in New Orleans, and worth planning around. You should expect rain on 24 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

July ranks 11 of 12 — near the bottom of New Orleans's year. November is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 35 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 24 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 30.7 °C days and 26.4 °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: 21 days top 30 °C, making the heat continuous rather than occasional; the day barely swings — 4.3 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest July day reached 35.2 °C and the coldest night fell to 22.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 66 mm — roughly 38% of the month's rain in one day.

July is one of the reliable ones — rainfall has stayed between 109 mm and 255 mm across all twenty years, a narrow enough band that the 173 mm average is something you can plan against rather than merely quote.

Wind is light at 9.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 77%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How July sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 30.3 °C in June, 30.7 here, 30.7 in August. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain has already shifted: 5 days more than June had.

Daylight in July

July is at or near the longest days of New Orleans's year: 13.9 hours of daylight, losing 0.4 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 22.3 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

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.

July in New Orleans versus nearby

If New Orleans is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Baton Rouge is the weaker option in July — 2 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Mobile is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: July is a compromise. November is 35 points better and is what New Orleans 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 New Orleans

See all twelve months in New Orleans, or where else to go in July.