As August comes to a close, the Capital Area says goodbye to climatological summer and one that will go down in the history books as the hottest on record, and it was not even close. Almost any measurable heat stat broke records by a wide margin. Often, long duration temperature records are broken by tenths of a degree. In some cases, records were shattered by 2 and even 3 degrees. The Storm Station put together these lists, so you can see how the Summer of 2023 has re-written heat history in southeast Louisiana. 

There are two databases one can look at for Baton Rouge climate data. The longest running database goes back to 1892. The modern database begin at Metro Airport (Ryan Field) and has been active since 1930. While the 1892 database has a lot of utility, there are many missing data points for a number of reasons including inconsistent instrumentation, changing location and recording methods.  

The Summer of 2023 was the hottest on record for both databases. For each August and July were the top two hottest single months. The three months racked up, by far, the highest number of days with high temperatures over 100 degrees and low temperatures over 80 degrees. Both databases had multiple record runs of consecutive high temperatures over 100 degrees. Several of the highest highs and highest lows of all-time were marked this year. In total, there were 23 record highs and 36 record high lows set on the all-time database. Take a look at the full lists below. 

HOTTEST SUMMER

By Average Temperature

DRIEST SUMMER

By Total Precipitation

HOTTEST MONTH

By Average Temperature

HIGHEST HIGH

*Data Quality in Question…

An analysis of the regional weather data from August 1909 indicates some reason to doubt the standing records. August 18 was 99°. On August 19 and 20, surrounding reporting stations were several degrees cooler than 110 degrees and 108 degrees. Often heat builds gradually and is uniform over a large region. It is not a sudden and isolated phenomenon as suggested by the data from all regional stations, including Baton Rouge, on those dates. Lastly, the Baton Rouge temperature sensor failed one day after these observations.

HIGHEST LOW

There were four other dates that had a low of 82° in 2023. 2016, 2010 and 2008 each had one.

HIGHS AT/ABOVE 100°

LOWS AT/ABOVE 80°

CONSECUTIVE HIGHS AT/ABOVE 100°

EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS

Issued for Heat Index (Feels-Like Temperature) over 113°

Only Tracked Since 2005

2023 – 29 | All Other Years – 20

HIGHEST FEELS-LIKE TEMPERATURE

Only Available Since 1948

Aug. 31, 2000 – 119.3°

Jul.     9, 1995 – 118.0°

Aug. 24, 2023 – 117.6°

Aug. 15, 2023 – 116.6°

Aug. 10, 2023 – 116.4°

RECORD HIGHS

Broken and Tied

HIGHEST LOWS

Broken and Tied

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