section_path: Geography/Climate
section_name: Climate
paragraph_text: Climate
  
  The climate of New Orleans is humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa), with short, generally mild winters and hot, humid summers; in the 1991–2020 climate normals the USDA hardiness zone is 9b, with the coldest temperature in most years being about 27.6 °F (−2.4 °C). The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 54.3 °F (12.4 °C) in January to 84 °F (28.9 °C) in August. Officially, as measured at New Orleans International Airport, temperature records range from 11 to 105 °F (−12 to 41 °C) on December 23, 1989, and August 27, 2023, respectively; Audubon Park has recorded temperatures ranging from 6 °F (−14 °C) on February 13, 1899, up to 104 °F (40 °C) on June 24, 2009, and August 28, 2023. Dewpoints in the summer months (June–August) are relatively high, ranging from 71.1 to 73.4 °F (21.7 to 23.0 °C).
  
  The average precipitation is 62.5 inches (1,590 mm) annually; the summer months are the wettest, while October is the driest month. Precipitation in winter usually accompanies the passing of a cold front. There are a median of over 80 days of 90 °F (32 °C) + highs, 9 days per winter where the high does not exceed 50 °F (10 °C), and less than 8 nights with freezing lows annually, although it is not uncommon for entire winter seasons to pass with no freezing temperatures at all, such as the 2003–04 winter, the 2012–13 winter, the 2015–16 winter and the consecutive winters of 2018–19 and 2019–20. It is rare for the temperature to reach 20 or 100 °F (−7 or 38 °C), with the last occurrence of each being January 17, 2018, and August 27, 2023, respectively.
  
  New Orleans experiences snowfall only on rare occasions. A small amount of snow fell during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm and again on Christmas (December 25) when a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. The New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm affected New Orleans and brought 4.5 inches (11 cm). Snow fell again on December 22, 1989, during the December 1989 United States cold wave, when most of the city received 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm).
  
  The last significant snowfall in New Orleans was on January 21, 2025, when the city received 8–10 inches (20–25 cm) of snow.