Columbia, Louisiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbia's normal year runs from 37°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 59.3 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.3 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.6°C, January lows of 3°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,505 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbia Lock
- Station IDUSC00161979
- Location32.17°N 92.11°W
- Elevation82 ft (25 m)
- Population266
On October 14, the normal high in Columbia is 79°F and the normal low 55°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbia.
- Jan 57° 37°
- Feb 61° 39°
- Mar 69° 46°
- Apr 76° 54°
- May 84° 63°
- Jun 90° 70°
- Jul 93° 73°
- Aug 93° 72°
- Sep 88° 66°
- Oct 78° 55°
- Nov 67° 44°
- Dec 59° 38°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Columbia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 37°F. The most precipitation falls in April (6.20 in), the least in September (3.57 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 37°F | 46.9°F | 6.00 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 61°F | 39°F | 50.1°F | 5.48 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 46°F | 57.7°F | 5.14 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 54°F | 64.6°F | 6.20 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 63°F | 73.3°F | 4.93 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 90°F | 70°F | 79.8°F | 4.66 | 9 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 93°F | 73°F | 82.7°F | 4.76 | 8 | 25 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 93°F | 72°F | 82.5°F | 3.67 | 7 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 88°F | 66°F | 76.9°F | 3.57 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 55°F | 66.5°F | 4.34 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 67°F | 44°F | 55.8°F | 4.69 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 59°F | 38°F | 48.9°F | 5.82 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 55°F | 65.5°F | 59.26 | 96 | 93 | 38 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 3°C | 8.3°C | 152 mm |
| February | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 139 mm |
| March | 21°C | 8°C | 14.3°C | 131 mm |
| April | 24°C | 12°C | 18.1°C | 157 mm |
| May | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 125 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 118 mm |
| July | 34°C | 23°C | 28.2°C | 121 mm |
| August | 34°C | 22°C | 28.1°C | 93 mm |
| September | 31°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 91 mm |
| October | 26°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 110 mm |
| November | 20°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 119 mm |
| December | 15°C | 4°C | 9.4°C | 148 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00161979; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Columbia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00161979.
When is the last frost in Columbia?
In Columbia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 5 in half of years and after March 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 22 in half of years and before November 4 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- March 51 year in 10 after March 27; 9 in 10 after February 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 221 year in 10 before November 4; 9 in 10 before December 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 263 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 292 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 20 in half of springs and before December 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbia in zone 8b in ZIP code 71418, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbia's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 20°F (18 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Louisiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00161979; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Columbia?
In a normal year in Columbia, 93 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 38 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 93a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 38a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00161979.
How sunny is Columbia?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbia, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (83%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.7 |
| February | 64% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 79% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 76% | 3.1 |
| December | 69% | 2.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Columbia need?
A normal year in Columbia brings 2,243 heating degree days, 58% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,449 cooling degree days, 2.7 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,196 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 565 | 5 |
| February | 425 | 8 |
| March | 257 | 29 |
| April | 97 | 86 |
| May | 13 | 270 |
| June | 0 | 445 |
| July | 0 | 547 |
| August | 0 | 542 |
| September | 3 | 361 |
| October | 80 | 127 |
| November | 295 | 21 |
| December | 509 | 8 |
| Year (annual) | 2,243 | 2,449 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00161979. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Columbia been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 66.6°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 65.5°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65.5°F | at normal | 40.63 |
| 2022 | 65.4°F | −0.1°F | 65.47 |
| 2023 | 67.6°F | +2.1°F | 37.92 |
| 2024 | 66.9°F | +1.4°F | 69.22 |
| 2025 | 66.6°F | +1.1°F | 56.08 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00161979. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbia's climate compare?
Columbia is warmer than 16 of the other 64 places with their own NOAA record in Louisiana, and wetter than 23. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 65.5°F is warmer than 89%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Columbia is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Columbia share this climate record?
3 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Banks Springs, LA1,432 people · 6 mi S
- Clarks, LA1,034 people · 10 mi S
- Grayson, LA431 people · 8 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Columbia's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbia?
January, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 37°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Columbia?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.3 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Columbia?
April, with 6.20 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.57 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbia in zone 8b in ZIP code 71418, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Columbia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 20°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Columbia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 5; in one year in ten it comes after March 27. Waiting until March 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Louisiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Winnsboro, LA24 miles from this station, 65.9°F a year
- Monroe, LA24 miles from this station, 65.7°F a year
- Calhoun, LA28 miles from this station, 63.8°F a year
- Rayville, LA31 miles from this station, 66.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made