Alabama climate

Alabama Plant Hardiness Zones

Alabama’s towns run from zone 7b to zone 9b: the average coldest winter night is 28°F at Dauphin Island and 7.2°F at Ider.

Hardiness zones in Alabama

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across Alabama, from zone 7b to zone 9b, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 7b
  • 8a
  • 8b
  • 9a
  • 9b

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

9b Zone 9b, 25 to 30°F 2 towns

9a Zone 9a, 20 to 25°F 54 towns

8b Zone 8b, 15 to 20°F 134 towns

8a Zone 8a, 10 to 15°F 215 towns

7b Zone 7b, 5 to 10°F 20 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Autauga County8b16.4°F
Baldwin County9a20.6°F
Barbour County8b17.4°F
Bibb County8a13.9°F
Blount County8a12.2°F
Bullock County8b15.8°F
Butler County8b16.7°F
Calhoun County8a12.6°F
Chambers County8a12°F
Cherokee County8a11.6°F
Chilton County8a14.9°F
Choctaw County8b16.7°F
Clarke County8b17.4°F
Clay County8a12.4°F
Cleburne County8a11.9°F
Coffee County8b19.9°F
Colbert County8a10.6°F
Conecuh County8b18.2°F
Coosa County8a14.9°F
Covington County8b18.6°F
Crenshaw County8b17.1°F
Cullman County8a10.4°F
Dale County8b19.7°F
Dallas County8b17°F
DeKalb County8a10.7°F
Elmore County8b17.2°F
Escambia County8b18.9°F
Etowah County8a14°F
Fayette County8a11°F
Franklin County8a10.1°F
Geneva County8b18.5°F
Greene County8b16.1°F
Hale County8b16.3°F
Henry County8b19.1°F
Houston County9a21.3°F
Jackson County8a10.3°F
Jefferson County8a14.8°F
Lamar County8a12.2°F
Lauderdale County8a10.1°F
Lawrence County8a10.9°F
Lee County8b15.8°F
Limestone County8a10.8°F
Lowndes County8b17.6°F
Macon County8b16.3°F
Madison County8a10.2°F
Marengo County8b16.3°F
Marion County7b8.3°F
Marshall County8a14°F
Mobile County9a21.3°F
Monroe County8b17.7°F
Montgomery County8b17.4°F
Morgan County8a11.7°F
Perry County8b16°F
Pickens County8a14.8°F
Pike County8b17.8°F
Randolph County8a12.1°F
Russell County8b16.3°F
Shelby County8b15.8°F
St. Clair County8a12.6°F
Sumter County8b15.5°F
Talladega County8a12.3°F
Tallapoosa County8a14.2°F
Tuscaloosa County8a14.9°F
Walker County8a11.8°F
Washington County8b17.7°F
Wilcox County8b17°F
Winston County7b9.7°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
7b5 to 10°F-15.0 to -12.2°C
8a10 to 15°F-12.2 to -9.4°C
8b15 to 20°F-9.4 to -6.7°C
9a20 to 25°F-6.7 to -3.9°C
9b25 to 30°F-3.9 to -1.1°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.