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Baton Rouge Mosquito Forecast

Today's mosquito activity in Baton Rouge, the week ahead, and what to do about it. Updated hourly.

Bite Index · Sunday, November 8

Moderate

Moderate mosquito activity in Baton Rouge today: expect some bites at dusk.

Some bites at dusk and dawn, mostly near creeks, gardens and shade.

Quieter than a typical November in East Baton Rouge Parish (usually around 58).

  • Only 546 mosquito service requests to EBR Mosquito Abatement in the last 7 days, well under the recent average of 748: fewer new breeding sites than usual.
  • Only 0.0 in. of rain Oct 21–Oct 30, so few new breeding sites; what's biting is coming from irrigation, pools and creeks.
  • A two-week average of 68°F keeps populations growing, just more slowly than midsummer.

The week ahead

Each day's Bite Index, from this week's weather and the rain that is still hatching. Forecast days get less certain as the week goes on.

  1. Today
    38Mod.72°/46°dry
  2. Mon
    41High75°/49°dry
  3. Tue
    49High81°/55°dry
  4. Wed
    52High81°/65°dry
  5. Thu
    38Mod.75°/55°dry
  6. Fri
    26Mod.59°/47°dry
  7. Sat
    29Mod.66°/44°dry

Protect tonight

Worth repellent if you'll be outside at dusk or dawn.

  1. A botanical or 10% picaridin lotion covers a patio evening; reapply after about two hours.
  2. A fan on the patio does real work: mosquitoes are weak fliers and avoid moving air.
Which repellent, and how much: DEET vs picaridinBest natural repellents

Why Baton Rouge's mosquitoes do what they do

Baton Rouge has a dedicated parish mosquito-abatement district with its own entomologists, aircraft and a public service-request database that goes back years — nearly 200,000 mosquito calls, which makes it the best citizen signal of any city we cover. The city sits on the Mississippi's east bank with bayous and swampland on three sides, and it is wet enough to breed mosquitoes in any month.

  • Bayous and swamp: Bayou Manchac, the Amite River and the Spanish Lake basin surround the parish with permanent habitat.
  • Sixty inches of rain a year: the wettest large metro in the country outside Florida, with no dry season to speak of.
  • Spring and fall peaks, midsummer lull: like New Orleans, the worst biting is May–June and September–October.
  • West Nile: East Baton Rouge records positive pools and human cases most years.

A typical year in East Baton Rouge Parish

The long-run mosquito index by month from our season map (NOAA climate normals plus effort-corrected sightings). Today's Bite Index is the live version of this; the month you're in is marked.

  1. JJanuary: 42
  2. FFebruary: 39
  3. MMarch: 41
  4. AApril: 52
  5. MMay: 74
  6. JJune: 87
  7. JJuly: 80
  8. AAugust: 75
  9. SSeptember: 83
  10. OOctober: 71
  11. NNovember: 58
  12. DDecember: 49

Local surveillance and West Nile virus

The Bite Index measures nuisance biting, not disease. East Baton Rouge Parish's health department traps and tests mosquitoes through the season and publishes positive West Nile pools by ZIP code. When your ZIP has an active advisory, follow it regardless of today's number.

546 mosquito service requests to EBR Mosquito Abatement in the last 7 days (recent weekly average 748). Standing-water complaints are the earliest sign of new breeding sites; they feed the ground-truth factor below.

How the Bite Index is scored

The index is a model of conditions, not a mosquito count. Four weather factors are combined on a 0–100 scale, then scaled by the season. Every factor and today's value for it is listed here so you can check the number yourself. It uses the same temperature curve and rain logic as our county-level mosquito season map, which has been validated against effort-corrected sighting data across 41 states.

BBreeding pressure

Rain 7–14 days ago (0.0 in. between Oct 21 and Oct 30). Eggs need water to hatch, and at summer temperatures the egg-to-biting-adult cycle takes about a week, so today's mosquitoes are last week's rain. Cool weather stretches the window; hot dry days shrink it as shallow water evaporates.

Weight 40%
Today 0%

DDevelopment

The trailing two-week average temperature, on the same curve as our national season map: nothing below 50°F, full speed at 78–88°F, a small penalty in extreme heat.

Weight 25%
Today 66%

ATonight's activity

Whether the population that exists will actually fly and bite this evening: dusk temperature (65–85°F is ideal), wind (they stop flying around 10 mph), humidity, and rain around sunset.

Weight 25%
Today 47%

GGround truth

Only 546 mosquito service requests to EBR Mosquito Abatement in the last 7 days, well under the recent average of 748: fewer new breeding sites than usual.

Weight 10%
Today -54%

SSeason gate

A multiplier from the calendar: fully open in the city's season months, half-open in the shoulder months, nearly closed in deep winter unless the week is warm. Below a 50°F weekly average the index is simply 0.

Weight ×
Today 100%

index = 100 × S × (0.40 × (0.2 + 0.8·B) + 0.25 × D + 0.25 × A + 0.10 × (0.5 + 0.5·G))

Bands: Low 0–20 · Moderate 21–40 · High 41–60 · Very High 61–80 · Severe 81–100. Weather is from Open-Meteo (observations and the 7-day forecast), refreshed hourly. The lag and temperature thresholds follow published work on Culex and Aedes development (Rueda et al. 1990; Cornell NRCC degree-day emergence; JAMCA 2024 on rainfall two to four weeks before trap peaks).

Questions people ask about mosquitoes in Baton Rouge

When is mosquito season in Baton Rouge?
Essentially year-round, with the heaviest biting from May to June and again from September to October. Mosquito Abatement's spray operations run through most of the year.
Why are mosquitoes so bad after rain in Baton Rouge?
The parish gets about sixty inches of rain a year and drains slowly, so breeding water is nearly always present and any storm adds to it. The surge from a storm lands 7 to 14 days later, once eggs have become adults.
Is West Nile virus a risk in Baton Rouge?
Yes. East Baton Rouge detects West Nile in mosquito pools most summers and the Louisiana Department of Health reports human cases most years. Follow their advisories over the index.
Where does this forecast's data come from?
Open-Meteo weather for central Baton Rouge and the parish's own mosquito service-request counts (via data.brla.gov), scored by our documented model. Not a trap count.

Also covers Denham Springs, Prairieville, Zachary, Central, Gonzales, Port Allen, LSU, the Mississippi levee: the forecast point is central Baton Rouge, and conditions within about 30 miles track it closely. Weather fetched Nov 8, 12:38 PM local time.

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