Gilliam, LA 71029 Frost Dates
71029, near Gilliam, LA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/06, about 190 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/19, roughly 257 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gilliam in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Gilliam's growing season runs out in roughly 12 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
03/06 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/15 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/27 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gilliam against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 257 frost-free days, Gilliam places 6,763 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within LA, it ranks 543 of 710.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 71029: the frost range, on how to read the range around Gilliam's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Gilliam can differ from the 71029 normal.