Durham, NC 27717 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Durham, NC?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/02, roughly 217 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/04, about 217 frost-free days later.
Durham 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.
What to do before the first frost
About 10 weeks of growing season left in Durham before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/02 isn't a guarantee
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
At roughly 217 frost-free days, Durham places 13,386 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NC, it ranks 661 of 1,078.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Durham's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Durham can differ from the 27717 normal.