New Orleans Heat & Recovery Index (2016–2026)
How hot does New Orleans actually get — and for how many days a year? This page tracks the number of days the feels-like temperature (heat index) reaches 90°F, 95°F, 100°F, and 105°F in New Orleans, using ten and a half years of reanalysis weather data measured at our Uptown coordinates. It updates live, states its methodology, and is free to cite. Published and maintained by NOLA Chill, a recovery studio at 6045 Magazine Street — we live and work in this heat.
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Annual heat-index days, 2016–2026
Number of calendar days per year on which the daily maximum feels-like temperature reached each threshold.
| Year | ≥90°F | ≥95°F | ≥100°F | ≥105°F | Hottest feels-like |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 128 | 84 | 37 | 4 | 106°F (Jul 21) |
| 2017 | 111 | 72 | 22 | 0 | 104°F (Aug 19) |
| 2018 | 149 | 98 | 32 | 1 | 105°F (Jul 13) |
| 2019 | 142 | 96 | 37 | 3 | 107°F (Jul 5) |
| 2020 | 116 | 76 | 19 | 2 | 106°F (Jul 12) |
| 2021 | 104 | 63 | 24 | 1 | 106°F (Jul 30) |
| 2022 | 141 | 99 | 43 | 4 | 106°F (Jun 17) |
| 2023 | 145 | 109 | 72 | 36 | 112°F (Aug 5) |
| 2024 | 137 | 101 | 61 | 11 | 108°F (Aug 14) |
| 2025 | 145 | 112 | 60 | 5 | 106°F (Aug 18) |
| 2026 (through Jul 13) | 61 | 38 | 26 | 3 | 106°F (Jul 11) |
What a typical month looks like (2016–2025 averages)
Average number of days per month at each feels-like threshold, across the last ten full years.
| Month | ≥90°F | ≥95°F | ≥100°F |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 15.3 | 5.2 | 0.6 |
| June | 26.5 | 19.1 | 7.7 |
| July | 30.2 | 26.2 | 15.9 |
| August | 29.5 | 24.9 | 13.3 |
| September | 23.3 | 14.6 | 3.1 |
| October | 6.0 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| November | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Key findings
- July is effectively a 90-degree month. On average, 30.2 of July’s 31 days reach a feels-like of 90°F or higher, and about 16 days reach 100°F.
- 2023 was the extreme year of the decade: 72 days at or above 100°F feels-like, 36 days at or above 105°F, and a peak of 112°F on August 5.
- The season is long. Ninety-degree feels-like days regularly appear from May through September — roughly a five-month heat season, with occasional appearances in April and October.
- 2026 is running hotter than the decade norm: 61 days at or above 90°F feels-like through July 13, versus a 2016–2025 average of 55 for the same period.
Heat and recovery, in practice
None of this is medical advice — it is what living with a five-month heat season looks like in practice. Public-health guidance for heat is consistent: hydrate before you are thirsty, plan hard efforts for early morning, take shade and cooling breaks, and give your body one to two weeks to acclimate when the first 90°F stretch arrives. Recovery habits are seasonal here too: summer is when cooling-focused sessions are most in demand at our studio — many clients describe a three-minute whole body cryotherapy session at −166°F as the fastest way to feel cool again after training in this heat. If you are curious what that feels like, a first session is $25.
Methodology
Counts are computed from the Open-Meteo historical weather archive (ERA5 reanalysis) queried at coordinates 29.9228°N, 90.1225°W (Uptown New Orleans). “Feels-like” is the daily maximum apparent temperature, which combines temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation — the reanalysis equivalent of the heat index. A day counts toward a threshold when its daily maximum apparent temperature meets or exceeds it. Window: January 1, 2016 through July 13, 2026 (2026 row is year-to-date). Historical tables retrieved July 15, 2026; the live figures at the top of this page query the same API from your browser at load time. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0).
Cite this page
This dataset is free to reference with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:
NOLA Chill (2026). New Orleans Heat & Recovery Index, 2016–2026. Retrieved from https://nolachill.com/new-orleans-heat-recovery-index/ — underlying weather data: Open-Meteo (ERA5).
Last verified: July 15, 2026. Live figures update automatically; historical tables are refreshed quarterly by NOLA Chill.
Frequently asked questions
How many days a year does New Orleans feel like 90 degrees or hotter?
Between 104 and 149 days per year over 2016–2025, with a ten-year average of about 132 days — roughly four and a half months’ worth.
What is the hottest month in New Orleans?
July, by feels-like temperature: on average 30.2 of its 31 days reach at least 90°F, 26.2 days reach 95°F, and 15.9 days reach 100°F. August is a close second.
What was the hottest it has felt in New Orleans in the last decade?
A feels-like temperature of 112°F on August 5, 2023 — the peak of the decade’s most extreme summer, which had 36 days at or above 105°F feels-like.
Is 2026 hotter than normal in New Orleans?
So far, yes: through July 13, 2026 there have been 61 days at or above 90°F feels-like, compared with a 2016–2025 average of 55 days for the same period.