Washington, DC 20501 Frost Dates
Washington, DC: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/24, roughly 208 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/18, roughly 241 days after the last spring frost.
Washington sits in USDA Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 12 weeks until Washington's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/24 isn't a guarantee
03/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Washington against the rest of the dataset
About 241 days separate Washington's last and first frost, putting it 8,449 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within DC, it ranks 30 of 246.
Learn more
Before leaning on 20501's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Washington's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Washington can differ from the 20501 normal.