Washington, DC 20418 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Washington, DC, ZIP 20418
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/09, about 224 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/31, about 202 frost-free days later.
Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Washington, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8a around Washington has about 9 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Washington's last frost
04/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/27 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/26 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Washington compares
About 202 days separate Washington's last and first frost, putting it 17,071 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within DC, it ranks 244 of 246.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8a and Washington's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Washington's dates instead of trusting one.