NOAA station USC00160800 · Louisiana
Frost Dates for Bienville, LA
NOAA weather station Bienville 3 NE (USC00160800), Louisiana · elevation 307 ft (94 m) · hardiness zone 8b*
- Lower-risk planting dateafter April 10only 1 spring in 10 still has a frost later
- Typical last frostMarch 1950% chance of a frost after it
- Typical first fall frostNovember 950% chance of a frost before it
- Frost-free season237 daystypical year, 32°F
- Hardiness zone8bcalculated*
The year at a glance
Frost dates (32°F)
| Chance | Last frost in spring after | First frost in fall before |
|---|---|---|
| 10% (unlikely) | April 10 | October 27 |
| 50% (typical) | March 19 | November 9 |
| 90% (likely) | February 26 | November 29 |
- Frost-free season (32°F, 50% chance)
- 237 days
- Hard frost (28°F), last in spring, 50% chance after
- March 4
- Hard frost (28°F), first in fall, 50% chance before
- November 23
The last 15 years (2006–2020 normals)
Typical last frost March 15 (4 days earlier than the 30-year normal), typical first fall frost November 10 (1 day later). Frost-free season 241 days.
A shorter, more recent NOAA period. The 30-year normals above remain the main reference: 15 years carry more year-to-year noise.
Add these dates to your calendar Yearly reminders for the typical last frost, the lower-risk planting date and the typical first fall frost (.ics).
How the chance of frost changes with the date
What actually happened in recent years
| Year | Last spring frost | First fall frost |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | March 3 | November 19 |
| 2022 | March 13 | October 19 |
| 2023 | March 20 | November 2 |
| 2024 | March 19 | November 29 |
| 2025 | March 21 | November 10 |
| 2026 | March 17 | season not over yet |
What these dates mean
October 27 marks the cautious fall date for finishing the harvest in Bienville; there is only a ten-percent chance that a light frost has arrived earlier. In the spring the comparable cautious date is April 10, when the chance of a light frost later than that day is ten percent, making it the date to set out tender crops. The 50 % dates are March 19 for spring and November 9 for fall; they represent an even odds of a light frost occurring later (spring) or earlier (fall), so a gardener can view them as the midpoint of frost risk. The hard-frost 50 % dates are March 4 and November 23, indicating the median point for a 28 °F event. A hard frost at 28 °F can damage plants that survive a light frost at 32 °F, so the lower temperature dates are more critical for protecting tender crops.
How to read the probabilities
The dates are probabilities from 30 years of weather, not a forecast for this year.
- Spring: "10% after April 10" means that in about one spring out of ten a frost still happens after that date. The 90% date is the earliest: a frost after it happens in most years.
- Fall: "10% before October 27" means that in about one fall out of ten the first frost arrives before that date.
- 50% is the typical date: half of the years are earlier, half are later.
- A light frost (32°F) damages tender plants; a hard frost (28°F) also stops most hardy vegetables.
Nearby weather stations
- Minden, LA 26 mi (42 km)
- Homer, LA 31 mi (50 km)
- near Bossier City, LA 41 mi (65 km)
- Shreveport, LA 53 mi (85 km)
- Monroe, LA 54 mi (86 km)
Sources
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, station USC00160800
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals
- PRISM Group, Oregon State University — 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone GIS datasets
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 2006–2020 (15-year normals), station USC00160800
- NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network – Daily (GHCN-Daily), observed daily minimum temperature, retrieved 2026-10-08
* Hardiness zone 8b: zone derived from PRISM 2023 grid at the station location (not the official USDA map). Source data: PRISM Group, Oregon State University.
Station coordinates: 32.3744, -92.9433.