New Orleans, LA Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Winter is the only frost season New Orleans has. Even odds put the first freeze of the cold season at January 5, after the new year, and the last at January 22, which leaves 348 days frost-free in a typical year.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one winter in ten still has a freeze on or after February 23, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by December 13. Against a median of 229 days for the 100 cities on these pages, New Orleans has a season 119 days longer, 5th on the list.

The numbers belong to New Orleans Lakefront AP, NOAA station USW00053917, which sits 5.7 miles west of the Census Bureau's internal point for New Orleans at an elevation of about 10 feet.

When is the last frost in New Orleans?

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after February 23 is a one-in-ten winter, after January 22 is a coin toss, and after December 28 is the usual case.

There are 57 days between the early and late dates, a broader band than most cities on these pages show. In New Orleans the typical date is a weaker promise than it looks.

New Orleans's first fall frost, by chance

In New Orleans the first freeze has arrived by December 13 in one fall out of ten, by January 5 in five, and by February 1 in nine.

50 days separate the early and late fall dates, a broad band compared with most cities here, so a fall crop in New Orleans should be planned against the early date, not the typical one.

How long is the frost-free season in New Orleans?

With a season well beyond the middle of these pages, New Orleans has days to spare for slow crops, as the planting dates below show. Season length swings more here than in most of the 100 cities: 348 days in a typical year, 310 days in a short one, a difference of 38 days.

Read these season figures as NOAA's own counts of freeze-free days; with the first freeze arriving after the new year, they are not the gap between two dates in one calendar year. A night at or below 32°F shows up in only 71.3% of years here. In the remaining 28.7% winter passes without one, so these dates describe when frost is possible, not when it is certain.

Hard freeze dates for New Orleans

Between a light frost and a hard freeze there is little room in New Orleans: the typical 28°F dates are January 11 and January 18, just 6 days and 4 days from the 32°F dates. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after February 11, and one fall in ten sees the first by December 23.

Using New Orleans's frost dates in the garden

Counting from January 22, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on December 25 and lettuce from December 25 to January 1, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until February 5 and beans until January 22 or later. Peas are the exception to the count: University of New Hampshire Extension says to plant them as soon as the soil thaws, whatever the frost date.

32 days lie between the typical and late dates in New Orleans, enough to decide whether you plant tender crops early with a cover ready or wait for a safer spring.

Fall crops are counted back from the first frost: NC State Extension's days to harvest plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days. All 34 crops in the fall planner have room in New Orleans, with a last planting day no earlier than July. The slowest crop that still fits is parsnips, at 148 days, and it has to be planted by July 18 to beat the early date.

Worked example: planting broccoli for fall in New Orleans

Take fall broccoli in New Orleans. NC State Extension lists up to 80 days from transplant to harvest, and University of Georgia Extension adds a harvest allowance of 18 days, so the plants need 98 days before the first frost. Counting back from the typical first frost, January 5, the last planting day is September 29. Counting back from the early date, December 13, it is September 6.

That is 23 days between the typical and the early schedule; broccoli planted on the later of them risks a frost before harvest in one fall out of ten.

In spring the same family goes in earlier: counting from January 22, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on December 25, weeks ahead of the last frost.

Where New Orleans's numbers are measured

The nearest usable station stands 5.7 miles west of New Orleans's internal point, near the city but not in it.

Its elevation is about 10 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 99 sit higher and 0 lower. Its completeness flag is R, which NOAA uses for a representative record.

Because the Census file has no elevation for New Orleans, we cannot say how far your yard is above or below this station. When yours is clearly higher or lower, open the nearby stations in the frost dates tool and favor the colder one.

Nearby cities and their frost dates

The nearest city on these pages is Mobile, AL, 117 miles away, and the other two below are farther out, so these are regional comparisons, not neighbors.

• Mobile, AL (117 miles, east): the last frost is 30 days later than in New Orleans, and the frost-free season is 56 days shorter than New Orleans's. Its typical dates are February 21 and December 6, with 292 days frost-free.
• Houston, TX (327 miles, west): spring frost lingers 11 days longer than in New Orleans, and it has 21 days less without frost. Its typical dates are February 2 and December 25, with 327 days frost-free.
• Tallahassee, FL lies 340 miles east of New Orleans. Typical last frost March 11, first frost November 21, 255 days between; its last frost comes 48 days after New Orleans's, and the season runs 93 days shorter.

Next steps for New Orleans gardeners

Open the frost dates tool with this station already chosen to see the whole ladder of probability dates, or try the nearby stations in the same list. The spring planting planner and the fall planting planner turn the same dates into a full crop list, and the hardiness zone lookup tells you which perennials will survive the winter.

All the cities on these pages are listed by state on the city frost dates index.

Where these numbers come from

NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11) supply every frost date here, unchanged from the station's record, and NOAA's documentation defines the probabilities. The city and its internal point come from the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer of places, and the ranking by size from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 city and town population estimates, which put New Orleans at 362,701 people.

University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension supply the planting rules; this page only counts them from the station's dates. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

Frost dates are long-term odds, not a forecast. Before you plant, check the local forecast for the coming week, and keep row cover or old sheets handy for the nights the odds get wrong.