Locust, NC 28097 Frost Dates
28097, near Locust, NC: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/01, roughly 216 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/02, roughly 215 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Locust in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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
Locust's growing season runs out in roughly 9 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
04/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Locust against the rest of the dataset
About 215 days separate Locust's last and first frost, putting it 14,080 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NC, it ranks 702 of 1,078.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 28097: local microclimates, on what one yard in Locust can differ from the 28097 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8a and Locust's frost date answer different questions.