BATON ROUGE – 2024 was another one for the record books, for the second straight year in a row. 2024 ties 2023 as the hottest year on record in Baton Rouge, dating back to 1893. The average temperature for both years was 72.5°. That is half a degree more than the prior record from 1921. 

This might sound surprising, as daytime highs weren't nearly as hot. For instance, 2023 saw 32 days with triple-digit heat whereas only 6 occurred in 2024. But remember, these averages include all high and low temperatures from all seasons. 2024 made up for the lesser afternoon heat in the morning. The average low temperature for 2024 outweighed 2023 by several tenths of a degree. That was enough to balance the scale.

It should be noted that these values were computed by averaging the monthly average temperatures together, as opposed to the daily values across all 365 days. This is per the recommendation of the National Data Stewardship Team. Should the latter method be used, 2024 would rank as a close second to 2023 by a tenth of a degree.

Every month except January recorded above-normal temperatures in 2024. The hottest months were July and August with an average temperature of 85.8° and 86.5° respectively. Baton Rouge also recorded it's latest 90° day in the calendar year ever on November 6, 2024.

Precipitation amounts flipped-flopped from above to below average for most of the year. But as a whole, Baton Rouge ended the year with a rainfall surplus (+3.91"). Rainfall early in the year was sufficient to lead the Capital Area out of one its worst droughts.