FrostDateCheck

Lake Charles, LA 70605 Frost Dates

Lake Charles, LA: when does the frost end?

Zone 9b

Around 02/14 is the usual last spring frost, about 170 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/07, roughly 299 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lake Charles 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

With roughly 14 weeks until Lake Charles's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.

Why 02/14 isn't a guarantee

02/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Lake Charles against the rest of the dataset

At roughly 299 frost-free days, Lake Charles places 4,150 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within LA, it ranks 180 of 710.

Learn more

Before leaning on 70605's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Lake Charles's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Lake Charles can differ from the 70605 normal.