Washington, NC 27889 Frost Dates
27889, near Washington, NC: the frost window
Around 03/08 is the usual last spring frost, about 192 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/05, roughly 272 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Washington in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Washington's growing season runs out in roughly 14 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
03/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Washington against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 272 frost-free days, Washington places 5,361 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NC, it ranks 9 of 1,078.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 27889: local microclimates, on what one yard in Washington can differ from the 27889 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Washington's frost date answer different questions.