FrostDateCheck

Benton, LA 71102 Frost Dates

Frost dates for Benton, LA, ZIP 71102

Zone 8b

The last spring frost here typically falls around 02/28, about 184 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/24, about 268 frost-free days later.

Zone 8b (15 to 20°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 Benton, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 8b around Benton has about 13 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 02/28 isn't a guarantee

02/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/04 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/19 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Benton compares

At roughly 268 frost-free days, Benton places 5,776 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within LA, it ranks 384 of 710.

Learn more

the frost range explains how to read the range around Benton's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Benton can differ from the 71102 normal.