Gretna, LA 70085 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Gretna, LA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/04, roughly 160 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/15, about 312 frost-free days later.
Gretna sits in USDA Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 16 weeks of growing season left in Gretna before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 02/04 isn't a guarantee
02/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/06 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/31 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Gretna compares
At roughly 312 frost-free days, Gretna places 3,488 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within LA, it ranks 65 of 710.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Gretna can differ from the 70085 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Gretna's frost date answer different questions.