Stem, NC 27572 Frost Dates
27572, near Stem, NC: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/15, roughly 230 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/26, roughly 194 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stem in Zone 7b (5 to 10°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
Stem's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/30 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Stem against the rest of the dataset
Stem's growing season runs about 194 days, ranking 19,531 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NC, it ranks 944 of 1,078.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 27572: the frost range, on how to read the range around Stem's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Stem can differ from the 27572 normal.