Raleigh, NC 27613 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Raleigh, NC, ZIP 27613
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/31, about 215 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/04, about 219 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
03/31 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/15 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Raleigh compares
Raleigh's growing season runs about 219 days, ranking 12,917 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NC, it ranks 602 of 1,078.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8a and Raleigh's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Raleigh's dates instead of trusting one.