Raleigh, NC 27616 Frost Dates
Raleigh, NC: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/28, about 212 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/08, roughly 229 days after the last spring frost.
Raleigh 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 10 weeks until Raleigh's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/28 isn't a guarantee
03/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/08 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Raleigh against the rest of the dataset
Raleigh's growing season runs about 229 days, ranking 10,507 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NC, it ranks 248 of 1,078.
Learn more
Before leaning on 27616's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Raleigh's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Raleigh can differ from the 27616 normal.