FrostDateCheck

Gretna, LA 70037 Frost Dates

70037, near Gretna, LA: the frost window

Zone 9b

The last spring frost here typically falls around 02/18, about 174 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/06, roughly 295 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gretna in Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.

Stretching the season past the first frost

Gretna's growing season runs out in roughly 14 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 02/18 isn't a guarantee

02/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/13 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Gretna against the rest of the dataset

Gretna's growing season runs about 295 days, ranking 4,252 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within LA, it ranks 197 of 710.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 70037: the frost range, on how to read the range around Gretna's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Gretna can differ from the 70037 normal.