Frost dates in South Carolina

Across South Carolina's 102 NOAA stations with a frost every year, the typical last spring frost ranges from February 28 at Mcclellanville 7 NE (10 feet above sea level) to April 26 at Jocassee 8 WNW (2,540 feet above sea level). The middle station's date is March 26.

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Last frost across South Carolina

The frost-free season runs from 174 days at Jocassee 8 WNW to 284 days at Edisto Is Middleton Plantation.

The station with the latest frost sits about 2,500 feet higher than the one with the earliest.

At 1 station a freezing night doesn't come every winter, so the dates there apply only to the years that have one.

These are typical dates: in half of springs the last frost comes later. Each place's page, and each ZIP code lookup, also gives the late-year date, after which only 1 spring in 10 has a frost. That's the safer date for tender plants.

Frost dates for South Carolina's larger places

Typical (1-in-2) dates. Each place's page has the early and late years, a planting calendar and a printable planner. Zones are for the ZIP code nearest each place's center. *Not every winter has a freeze here; the date is for the years that do.

Hardiness zones in South Carolina

South Carolina's 526 ZIP codes in the USDA list fall in zones 8a to 9b: 8a (39 percent), 8b (50 percent), 9a (11 percent) and 9b (1 percent). Compared with the 2012 map, 62 percent of them moved to a warmer half zone (5 by a full zone or more) and 38 percent stayed the same.

A hardiness zone is about the coldest night of winter, which decides which shrubs, trees and perennials survive. Frost dates are about spring and fall, which decide when to plant. You need both. Read more about what the zones mean and what changed in 2023.

Every NOAA station in South Carolina

All 103 stations in South Carolina with frost statistics in NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, from A to Z. Station names are usually a town, an airport, or a distance and direction from a town. Find one near you and at a similar elevation.

*Not every winter has a freeze at this station; the date is for the years that do.

Typical (1-in-2) dates at 32°F. For the early and late years, and a planting calendar built from your own dates, look up your ZIP code.