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Beyond the Forecast

July 12 in New Orleans

Weather forecasts run out after about two weeks. For any date further out than that, the honest answer isn't a single number — it's the range New Orleans actually delivers on this date, and how often.

On July 12, New Orleans, LA typically reaches 94°F, but has run anywhere from 89°F to 98°F in eight years out of ten. About 50% of July 12s see no measurable precipitation.

Daytime high94°F
89°F8 years in 10 land in here98°F
Overnight low77°F
74°F8 years in 10 land in here80°F

The odds on July 12

50%
Dry day
No measurable precipitation
78%
90°F or hotter
Daytime high

Odds computed from the last 30 years (19962025).

This date is moving

Highs around July 12 have warmed about 0.6°F per decade since 1970 — roughly 3.0°F across the record. The figures above are shifted along that trend to 2025, so they describe today's climate rather than the average of the last 55 years.

When a forecast beats this page

We scored real forecasts against the station at NEW ORLEANS AUDUBON. A next-day forecast there misses the high by 4.2°F on average; by 7 days out that grows to 4.5°F. The range on this page spans 9°F, so inside about two weeks a real forecast is far sharper — past that, there isn't one, and this is what's left. See how your city ranks.

Where this comes from: 800 daily observations from NEW ORLEANS AUDUBON, covering 19702025. We pool every day within 7 days of July 12 — a single calendar date has only about 55 readings, far too few to place a 10th percentile you'd want to trust.

Why it's not a plain average: A climatology computed straight across 19702025 describes the middle of that period, not today, so as a statement about the present it runs cold. We fit a trend on year and shift each observation to 2025 before taking the range. The probabilities use the last 30 years instead — shifting a temperature along a trend is well defined, shifting “did it rain” is not.

What this is not: Not a forecast. It is what New Orleans, LA has actually done on this date, which is the only defensible answer once you're past the two-week horizon where real forecasts stop. Data: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily.

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