First and last frost dates by ZIP code
Most frost-date pages give you one date. A single date hides the part that decides what you do this week, which is how much the date moves from year to year. This one shows the early, typical and late version of each, straight from the NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals for the station nearest you.
Last updated: September 2026
What the three dates mean
The typical date is the middle of the last thirty years: half the years froze earlier, half later. The other two are the tails. In one year out of ten the first fall frost arrives on or before the early date, and in one year out of ten the last spring frost holds off until the late date.
So the early fall date and the late spring date are the ones worth planning against, because those are the years that catch people out. A normal is a record of what happened, not a forecast for this year, and a cold snap can land outside all three.
What to do for your natives before the first freeze
- Check whether the plant needs anything at all. The regional care guidance we publish says the same thing for most established natives across most regions: they are cold hardy where they are native and need no winter protection (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). A first-year plant is the one worth watching.
- Leave the standing stems and seed heads. Dried foliage and seed heads add winter interest and feed birds through the cold months (North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), and the stems shelter overwintering insects.
- Save the cutback for late winter. Dead foliage and stems can be removed any time from late fall through early spring once the plant is dormant (Clemson Cooperative Extension), and waiting until just before new growth keeps the cover in place all winter.
- Watch the water, not just the thermometer. In mild-winter regions, soggy soil is more likely to rot a young native than the cold is to kill it (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center), so keep winter watering light where the ground is not frozen.
Species-specific timing lives on each plant page, region by region. Start with the plant guides and open the region that matches your ZIP.
Get a freeze alert for your ZIP
A normal tells you when to expect the first freeze. It cannot tell you that one is coming this week. Pollinator Patch watches the forecast for your location and sends a freeze alert before it lands, free, with no account needed to start.