Raleigh, NC 27518 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Raleigh, NC, ZIP 27518
Around 03/28 is the usual last spring frost, about 212 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/08, about 229 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 Raleigh, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8a around Raleigh has about 10 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 Raleigh's last frost
03/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/08 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Raleigh compares
About 229 days separate Raleigh's last and first frost, putting it 10,497 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NC, it ranks 238 of 1,078.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Raleigh's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Raleigh can differ from the 27518 normal.