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Best time to visit New Orleans

November is the best time to visit New Orleans for general sightseeing, with average highs of 21 °C and about 7 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly March to April. The sea stays above 20 °C from April to October.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking November comfort 90/100
A beach holiday May sea 25 °C
The least cloud October 39 % average cloud cover
The least rain November 84 mm
Warmth July 31 °C
Cooler weather January 16 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 November 90 21 °C 7 60
2 March 85 21 °C 10 49
3 April 85 24 °C 9 76
4 October 84 25 °C 8 87
5 February 79 18 °C 9 29
6 December 77 18 °C 9 32
7 May 72 28 °C 9 87
8 January 71 16 °C 10 20
9 September 60 29 °C 13 75
10 June 54 30 °C 15 67
11 August 48 31 °C 18 61
12 July 47 31 °C 18 61

For a beach holiday

May scores highest, with a sea temperature of 25 °C and air temperatures around 28 °C. The sea is above 20 °C from April to October.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 14 °C 16 °C 57 % 20
February 15 °C 18 °C 57 % 29
March 18 °C 21 °C 54 % 49
April 22 °C 24 °C 50 % 76
May 25 °C 28 °C 46 % 87
June 29 °C 30 °C 50 % 67
July 30 °C 31 °C 57 % 61
August 30 °C 31 °C 56 % 61
September 28 °C 29 °C 47 % 75
October 24 °C 25 °C 39 % 87
November 20 °C 21 °C 45 % 60
December 16 °C 18 °C 57 % 32

When to think twice

July scores lowest with about 18 wet days and highs near 31 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 16.4 °C 116 mm 57 %
February 18.3 °C 113 mm 57 %
March 21.0 °C 118 mm 54 %
April 24.3 °C 101 mm 50 %
May 27.8 °C 93 mm 46 %
June 30.2 °C 139 mm 50 %
July 30.9 °C 150 mm 57 %
August 30.8 °C 157 mm 56 %
September 29.0 °C 128 mm 47 %
October 25.4 °C 89 mm 39 %
November 20.7 °C 84 mm 45 %
December 17.5 °C 103 mm 57 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.