Central, LA 70826 Frost Dates
70826, near Central, LA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/25, roughly 181 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/26, roughly 276 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Central in Zone 9a (20 to 25°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
Central's growing season runs out in roughly 13 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/25 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/29 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Central against the rest of the dataset
Central's growing season runs about 276 days, ranking 5,058 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within LA, it ranks 271 of 710.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 70826: the frost range, on how to read the range around Central's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Central can differ from the 70826 normal.