New Orleans, LA 70182 Frost Dates
Frost dates for New Orleans, LA, ZIP 70182
Around 01/22 is the usual last spring frost, about 147 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 01/05, about 348 frost-free days later.
Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for New Orleans, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 9b around New Orleans has about 19 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 01/22 isn't a guarantee
01/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/28 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How New Orleans compares
New Orleans's growing season runs about 348 days, ranking 2,370 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within LA, it ranks 8 of 710.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9b and New Orleans's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around New Orleans's dates instead of trusting one.