Your last frost date, by ZIP code
Type your ZIP code to see when the last frost of spring and the first frost of fall usually come where you live, how sure those dates are, your hardiness zone, and a planting calendar worked out from them.
Look up your ZIP code
What you will see
Your last spring frost and first fall frost. These come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which worked out how often frost fell on each date at 7,274 weather stations over the 30 years from 1991 to 2020. We match your ZIP code to the most suitable station near you and tell you which one it is, how far away it is, and how much higher or lower it sits.
How sure the dates are. A frost date is a probability. The typical date is the one half of years beat, which means frost after it in about half of all springs. So you also get the later date that only 1 spring in 10 goes past, which is the one to wait for with tomatoes and peppers.
Your hardiness zone. From the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, with your zone on the old 2012 map for comparison. The zone tells you which perennials, shrubs and trees survive your winters.
A planting calendar. When to start seeds indoors, when to sow peas and plant tomatoes outside, and the last dates for a fall crop, counted from your frost dates using planting rules published by university extension services. You can print it.
Why your ZIP code, not your state
Frost dates change a lot over short distances. Across a single state the typical last frost can differ by a month or more, and two stations a few miles apart can differ by two weeks when one sits in a valley that collects cold air. A statewide date, or a zone map, can't tell you that. Your nearest suitable station can.
No ZIP code handy, or want to compare? Browse frost dates by state, with pages for 269 larger places and a list of every station.
Guides
- What your last frost date really means
- Hardiness zones, and what changed on the 2023 map
- How to protect plants from a late frost
- Starting seeds indoors: when and how
- What to plant, month by month
- Fall planting: garlic, bulbs and cool-weather crops
- Why your frost date can differ from a town 10 miles away
- How long is your growing season?
Everything here runs in your browser. There's no account, and nothing you type is stored anywhere except on this computer, and only if you tick "Remember my ZIP code." How it works.