Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Rockefeller Wl Refuge, LA

How to read these charts for the spring
As the growing season approaches, the days get longer, the weather begins to warm up, and the nights start being less cold. You're still getting frost, but the chance of nightly frosts gets less and less with each passing day. Eventually, the frost stops, and this is when your tender plants are fully safe. So, how do you plan for this? The probabilities on this page help you assess your risk of frost on any given day.

What's a safe temperature for tender plants? When the nightly temperature falls, frost can form, even above 32°, because the air is colder high above the ground and the frost can form up there and then fall down onto your garden and do some damage, even if it's 36° on the ground. So many factors come into play, including wind, concrete, houses, trees and other structures, etc etc etc. Because of all this, you might want to consider 36° as "the danger zone".

In your average springtime, you have a 90% chance that there will be no 36° nights by March 25. In other words, you can pretty much count on being safe from frost by that day. But we want to get those tomatoes in the ground as soon as possible, right? We see that there's still an 80% chance of 36° on February 11, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by February 28 we are at the 50/50 point. At this point, we are close and we can start watching the weather forecast. If the upcoming week's forecast doesn't show below 40°, then it's probably okay to risk planting out your plants.

In the Spring
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Last 16° Dec 27 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Last 20° Jan 13 Dec 30 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Last 24° Feb 9 Jan 27 Jan 15 Jan 1 -- -- -- -- --
Last 28° Mar 1 Feb 18 Feb 10 Feb 3 Jan 27 Jan 19 Jan 10 Dec 23 --
Last 32° Mar 11 Feb 28 Feb 19 Feb 12 Feb 6 Jan 30 Jan 22 Jan 13 Dec 31
Last 36° Mar 25 Mar 17 Mar 10 Mar 5 Feb 28 Feb 23 Feb 17 Feb 11 Feb 2

How to read these charts for the fall
As your growing season comes to an end, the nightly temperatures for Rockefeller Wl Refuge, LA start to go down, and therefore every day that goes by increases the chance that you'll get frost. Your risk of frost really begins around November 21, and by December 25 you're almost certain to have received at least one frost event.

The charts on this page show the probabilities of receiving a certain temperature on a certain day. Some examples that might help:

  1. You have a small 20% chance of getting 32° by November 28.
  2. There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around December 11
  3. You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by December 25
  4. Said another way, you have a 1 in 5 chance at making it to that day without a 32° night.
In the Fall
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
First 16° Jan 14 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
First 20° Jan 2 Jan 18 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
First 24° Dec 22 Jan 4 Jan 15 Jan 28 -- -- -- -- --
First 28° Dec 7 Dec 17 Dec 25 Jan 1 Jan 7 Jan 15 Jan 24 Feb 10 --
First 32° Nov 21 Nov 28 Dec 3 Dec 7 Dec 11 Dec 15 Dec 19 Dec 25 Jan 2
First 36° Nov 7 Nov 13 Nov 18 Nov 22 Nov 25 Nov 29 Dec 3 Dec 7 Dec 13

Frost Dates for other nearby locations
  • Lake Arthur, LA
  • Jennings, LA
  • Lake Charles, LA
  • Hackberry, LA
  • Crowley, LA
  • Oberlin Fire Twr, LA
  • Lafayette Fcwos, LA
  • De Quincy, LA
  • New Iberia Acadiana, LA
  • Grand Coteau, LA

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    • Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.