Benton, LA 71156 Frost Dates
Benton, LA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/28, roughly 184 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/24, roughly 268 days after the last spring frost.
Benton sits in USDA Zone 8b (15 to 20°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 13 weeks until Benton's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/04 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.
Benton against the rest of the dataset
Benton's growing season runs about 268 days, ranking 5,791 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within LA, it ranks 399 of 710.
Learn more
Before leaning on 71156's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Benton's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Benton can differ from the 71156 normal.