The central Gulf Coast is blessed with a nearly subtropical climate. It's "nearly subtropical" because the region gets slapped with
a deep freeze once every couple decades or so with temperatures plummeting into the single digits. Otherwise, the area enjoys a subtropical
climate for most of the years with annual extreme lows bottoming out in the lower 20s Fahrenheit and an average annual rainfall of
over 60 inches. High heat and humidity rule the region's summers along with daily thunderstorms, its winters are mild
and wet, and the fall and spring seasons are slightly drier and pleasant.
All-time extreme low temperatures recorded in the southeastern US during the years 1961 to 1990. This is useful as a cold-hardiness
zone map for permanent plants.
(Map source: US Climate Atlas)
-Sunset Climate Zone Map incorporates all the factors (length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer
highs, and humidity) that affect a plant's performance rather than just the winter lows.
-2004 Arborday.org Hardiness Zone Map an
update of the 1990 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (click here to view the 1990 version) by Arborday.org based on data from the
years 1990 to 2004.
-2003 AHS Hardiness Zone Map (pdf file) by American Horticultural Society (AHS) that uses data from the
years 1986 to 2002.
-AHS Heat Zone Map shows the United States zoned according to the number of days above 86°F.
-US Climate Atlas--a
comprehensive climate map generator (the record extreme minimum temperature map above was generated using this)
A portion of the 2003 Plant Hardiness Zone Map showing the eastern Gulf Coast; zones are determined by average annual minimum temperatures
in degrees Fahrenheit.
Climate maps & links