Average Frost Dates

Courtesy of the National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The dates listed above are normal averages for a light freeze/frost. The possibility of a frost occurring after the spring dates and before the fall dates is 50 percent. Frost/freeze temperatures are categorized by their effect on plants:

• Light freeze: 29 degrees F to 32 degrees F — tender plants killed, with little destructive effect on other vegetation.
• Moderate freeze: 25 degrees F to 28 degrees F — widely destructive effect on most vegetation, with heavy damage to fruit blossoms and tender and semi-hardy plants.
• Severe freeze: 24 degrees F and colder — damage to most plants.