Simmesport, LA 71320 Frost Dates
71320, near Simmesport, 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 11/22, roughly 261 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Simmesport 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
Simmesport'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 02/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Simmesport against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 261 frost-free days, Simmesport places 6,428 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within LA, it ranks 499 of 710.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 71320: local microclimates, on what one yard in Simmesport can differ from the 71320 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 9a and Simmesport's frost date answer different questions.