The first cold nights in Louisiana, station by station
When the first night of 50°F or colder and the first freeze usually come at each reference station over the last 10 falls (a count shows where some years never got there), with the coldest week from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals and the coldest night of the last 10 winters.
First cold nights and the coldest week at Louisiana reference stations
Station
First 50°F night
First freeze
Coldest week
Coldest night, last 10 winters
New OrleansNew Orleans International Airport, USW00012916
Nov 2
Jan 12 (8 of 10 winters)
Jan 10 to 16normal low 46°F
20°FJan 17, 2018
Baton RougeBaton Rouge Ryan Airport, USW00013970
Oct 18
Nov 26
Jan 9 to 15normal low 41°F
7°FJan 22, 2025
LafayetteLafayette Regional Airport, USW00013976
Oct 20
Nov 25
Jan 9 to 15normal low 43°F
4°FJan 22, 2025
Lake CharlesLake Charles, USW00003937
Oct 24
Dec 11
Jan 8 to 14normal low 43°F
6°FJan 22, 2025
ShreveportShreveport, USW00013957
Oct 16
Nov 25
Jan 7 to 13normal low 37°F
1°FFeb 16, 2021
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at New Orleans against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 5 Louisiana reference stations.
The first night of 50°F or colder is a fair marker of the first real front. At New Orleans the first night of 50°F or colder came around Nov 2 in the median of the last 10 falls, as early as Oct 19 in 2022 and as late as Nov 22 in 2024. Elsewhere in the state: Baton Rouge around Oct 18, Lafayette around Oct 20, Lake Charles around Oct 24 and Shreveport around Oct 16.
New Orleans has a first freeze around Jan 12 in 8 of the last 10 winters, counting nights at 32°F or colder over the last 10 winters. Across the state: Baton Rouge around Nov 26, Lafayette around Nov 25, Lake Charles around Dec 11 and Shreveport around Nov 25.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at New Orleans was 20°F on Jan 17, 2018, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 26°F. Elsewhere: Baton Rouge 7°F on Jan 22, 2025, Lafayette 4°F on Jan 22, 2025 and Lake Charles 6°F on Jan 22, 2025. The record at the New Orleans station is 11°F, on Dec 23, 1989, in daily records since 1948.
At New Orleans a typical recent winter brings 4 nights at 32°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for New Orleans International Airport (USW00012916), Baton Rouge Ryan Airport (USW00013970), Lafayette Regional Airport (USW00013976), Lake Charles (USW00003937) and Shreveport (USW00013957). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
