What is the Autumn like? (Baton Rouge: trees, place, summer)

[ScribeCircus]

Hello! I am writing a novel that I hope to set in Baton Rouge. Sadly, I've never been there. The novel requires that the Autumn where the story is set be very short, and not overabundant with orange and red fallen leaves.

So, what is the fall like in Baton Rouge? How long is it? At what point does it start to get cooler? Do the leaves change colors and fall the same way that they do in, say, New Hampshire or Maine?

[Innotech]

fall in Baton rouge or anyplace in Louisiana is definitely short, as summer conditions last until well into august and September and usually it only starts to cool down in late September or October. By November it finally starts to get into wintery conditions but sometimes in a rerally mild winter it will stay in fall mode for a long time. Generally though it only lasts a couple months and there is really not much leaf color changing like you see in upper states. Mostly evergreens and temperate trees down here.

[Rosinante]

My Red Oaks' leaves stay green until Christmas. If we've had any really cold weather prior to that, there's a chance that they will turn red, but only a small chance. Usually they'll just turn brown and fall off the trees.

When Fall actually begins is a matter of opinion, I guess. I think of Fall beginning when our overnight lows will actually dip into the mid fifties or below; sometimes that doesn't happen until November. I define _Winter_ in Louisiana as those few days in late December or early January when you might actually have to wear a sweater or jacket to avoid getting a chill when you go outside. So, Fall might be thought of as that period when we actually cool off a bit and the 21st of December. Those Red Oaks I mentioned above will usually show the beginnings of their new leaves in late February, so our winters are actually about as short as our falls.

[darylwi]

From November thru March, it can literally be 45-50 one day and then 75-80 the next. This past Christmas it was in the upper 70s. In BTR, at least I, was a little shocked and hoping for a hard winter when it snowed 3 inches in mid December. But honestly, that was about the extent of our winter. It warmed back up and basically stayed warm the rest of the winter, with short (1-3 day) cold spells mixed in here and there.
Fall for me is when it starts to cool down at night. So that can be late September, mid October. But it can still easily be 85 one day and maybe 65 the next. It varies a lot down here outside of summer.

[BRMan]

One thing, too, about Baton Rouge "winters" is rarely do you have extended cold spells (December 1989, December 1995/January 1996, and December 2000 are the only exceptions which come to mind). The more typical weather pattern is like this: (1) a front comes in bringing rain and sometimes wind which dropps the temperatures to the 50s/30s, (2) over the next several days, it'll warm up to the 60s/40s, (3) another front comes through bringing rain and colder weather, and so forth.

[ScribeCircus]

Wow, thanks! This was all really helpful. Very appreciated.