A calculation of the charge state distribution of the asymptotic evolution of a plasma produced by an ultraviolet laser has been carried out by coupling the results of a detailed two‐dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of the creation and heating of the plasma to a simpler one‐dimensional hydrodynamic code. The latter incorporates time‐dependent ionization and recombination physics and is used to model the subsequent expansion and cooling of the plasma. The simulation results are compared to experimental charge state distributions obtained by using a single shot electrodynamic charge analyzer. The sensitivity of the results to the rate coefficients used for the recombination calculations was tested and the calculated distributions were found to be most sensitive to the values of the three‐body recombination rate and the amount of heat returned to the plasma. Reasonable agreement was found between the measured and calculated charge state distributions.