Hillsborough, NC 27243 Frost Dates
Hillsborough, NC: when does the frost end?
Around 03/31 is the usual last spring frost, about 215 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 217 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hillsborough in Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 10 weeks until Hillsborough's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/31 isn't a guarantee
03/31 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Hillsborough against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 217 frost-free days, Hillsborough places 13,448 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NC, it ranks 666 of 1,078.
Learn more
Before leaning on 27243's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Hillsborough's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Hillsborough can differ from the 27243 normal.