Lafayette is located at (30.213901, -92.029363)[1] and has an elevation of 36 feet (11.0 m)[2].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.7 square miles (123.5 km²), of which, 47.6 square miles (123.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.19%) is water.
Lafayette is located on the West Gulf Coastal Plain. What is now Lafayette was part of the seabed during the Quaternary Period. During this time, the Mississippi River cut a 325-foot-deep (99 m) valley between what is now Lafayette and Baton Rouge. This valley was filled and is now the Atchafalaya Basin. Lafayette is located on the Easter rim of this valley. This land, called the southwester Louisiana Prairie Terrace is higher up, and not made of wetland like much of the surrounding areas to the south and west of Lafayette. Because of this, Lafayette does not suffer significant flooding problems.
The Vermilion River runs through the center of Lafayette. Other significant waterways in the city are Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches and Coulee Ile des Cannes, which are natural drainage canals that lead to the Vermilion River.
Lafayette's climate is described as humid subtropical using Köppen climate classification. Lafayette is typical of areas a long the Gulf of Mexico in that it has hot, humid summers a mild winters. (See table below for average temperatures for Lafayette.)
| Climate data for Lafayette, Louisiana | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 89 (32) |
87 (31) |
93 (34) |
93 (34) |
98 (37) |
106 (41) |
107 (42) |
103 (39) |
101 (38) |
96 (36) |
92 (33) |
89 (32) |
107 (42) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 64 (18) |
66 (19) |
72 (22) |
79 (26) |
86 (30) |
91 (33) |
92 (33) |
92 (33) |
89 (32) |
82 (28) |
72 (22) |
64 (18) |
79 (26) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 43 (6) |
45 (7) |
51 (11) |
57 (14) |
64 (18) |
70 (21) |
72 (22) |
72 (22) |
67 (19) |
57 (14) |
48 (9) |
43 (6) |
57 (14) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 10 (−12) |
2 (−17) |
24 (−4) |
32 (0) |
42 (6) |
53 (12) |
57 (14) |
53 (12) |
41 (5) |
27 (−3) |
21 (−6) |
14 (−10) |
6 (−14) |
| Precipitation inches (cm) | 5 (13) |
4.5 (11) |
4.2 (11) |
4.3 (11) |
4.8 (12) |
5.5 (14) |
6.7 (17) |
5.6 (14) |
4.1 (10) |
3.3 (8) |
3.9 (10) |
5.4 (14) |
57.3 (146) |
| Source: Weatherbase[3] | |||||||||||||
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