Natchitoches, LA 71497 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Natchitoches, LA, ZIP 71497
Around 02/28 is the usual last spring frost, about 184 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/01, about 275 frost-free days later.
Zone 9a (20 to 25°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 Natchitoches, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 9a around Natchitoches has about 14 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.
The actual range around Natchitoches's last frost
02/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/31 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/17 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Natchitoches compares
Natchitoches's growing season runs about 275 days, ranking 5,122 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within LA, it ranks 301 of 710.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Natchitoches's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Natchitoches's dates instead of trusting one.