Frost dates in New Orleans, Louisiana

NOAA 1991–2020 normals for a 32 °F freeze. Low spots and the edge of town run colder than downtown.

Short answer

The average last spring frost in New Orleans is January 22, and the average first fall frost is January 5, from NOAA's New Orleans Lakefront Airport station, 6 miles from the middle of New Orleans. 1 year in 10 the last frost comes after February 23, and the first one by December 13. That leaves about 348 frost-free days. New Orleans is in USDA planting zone 9b.

Weather stations around New Orleans

The first row is the date most people in New Orleans go by. The others show how far the dates move across the area.

Station	Last spring frost	First fall frost	Frost-free
New Orleans Lakefront Airport 6 mi away, 9 ft	January 22 1 in 10 after February 23	January 5 1 in 10 by December 13	348 days
Chalmette 8 mi away, 3 ft	February 10 1 in 10 after March 8	December 17 1 in 10 by November 21	310 days
Terrytown 3S 12 mi away, 10 ft	February 1 1 in 10 after March 6	December 31 1 in 10 by December 1	333 days
St Bernard 14 mi away, 5 ft	February 4 1 in 10 after March 6	December 15 1 in 10 by November 23	314 days
New Orleans Audubon 15 mi away, 20 ft	January 24 1 in 10 after February 23	January 2 1 in 10 by December 5	343 days

Distances are from the middle of New Orleans as the Census Bureau maps it. The average date is NOAA's 50% date: half of years have a later last frost, or an earlier first one. Plan by the 1-in-10 date if a freeze would cost you plants. The planting zone is the USDA 2023 zone for ZIP code 70128, at the middle of the city.

Your exact ZIP code

New Orleans covers a lot of ground. For the station nearest your own street, and its planting zone, type your ZIP code.

How these dates work

Frost dates come from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 Climate Normals, which work out from each weather station's daily lows how likely the last spring freeze and the first fall freeze (32 °F) are by each date. We use the station nearest the middle of your ZIP code and show its height and distance, since a station on a hill or by a lake can differ from your yard.

The average date is the 50% date: half of years have a freeze after the spring date or before the fall one. The 1-in-10 dates are NOAA's 10% dates, the ones to plan by if a late freeze would cost you plants. Within one yard, cold air pools in low spots while walls and paving hold heat, so some corners freeze before others.

More frost dates

All of Louisiana, station by station.

Other Louisiana cities: Baton Rouge · Shreveport

Nearby: Mobile, AL · Montgomery, AL