Columbia, LA 71418 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Columbia, LA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/05, about 189 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/22, about 263 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 Columbia, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 12 weeks of growing season left in Columbia before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Columbia's last frost
03/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/14 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/27 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Columbia compares
About 263 days separate Columbia's last and first frost, putting it 6,151 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within LA, it ranks 491 of 710.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8b and Columbia's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Columbia's dates instead of trusting one.