Our disappearing winter
Baton Rouge's cold season is 10 days shorter, the summers are longer
If this Baton Rouge winter feels less like a season and more like a brief interruption, you’re not imagining it.
What’s happening: Winters are getting shorter in Baton Rouge—and in roughly 90% of U.S. cities—as the planet warms, according to a new analysis from Climate Central.
The trade-off: Fewer long cold stretches may sound like progress if you hate to shiver. But Baton Rouge pays it back in the other direction: hotter summers, more brutal heat and a warm season that keeps hanging around.
How Climate Central measured it:
The nonprofit defined “winter” as the coldest 90 consecutive days of the year during a historical baseline (1970–1997) for a place. Then it checked how often those same “winter-like” temperatures showed up in a more recent period (1998–2025).
Baton Rouge, by the numbers:
- Winters are now 10 days shorter.
- Winter-like daily temperatures (56.6°F or lower in BR) now start about 3 days later on average — Nov. 30, instead of Nov. 27.
- They end about 7 days earlier on average—Feb. 17, instead of Feb. 24.
Why it matters: A shorter winter doesn’t just change your wardrobe. It shifts the rhythm of daily life—what grows, what blooms, what pests survive. Moreover, wild climate swings, with extreme cold by our standards, kill off our beloved citrus trees.