Durham, NC 27702 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Durham, NC, ZIP 27702
Around 04/02 is the usual last spring frost, about 217 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/04, about 217 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 Durham, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8a around Durham 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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/02 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. 04/18 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Durham compares
About 217 days separate Durham's last and first frost, putting it 13,376 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NC, it ranks 651 of 1,078.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Durham's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Durham can differ from the 27702 normal.