Matthews, NC 28270 Frost Dates
Matthews, NC: when does the frost end?
Around 03/31 is the usual last spring frost, about 215 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/05, roughly 220 days after the last spring frost.
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 Matthews, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 10 weeks until Matthews's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/31 isn't a guarantee
03/31 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/11 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.
Matthews against the rest of the dataset
Matthews's growing season runs about 220 days, ranking 12,698 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NC, it ranks 549 of 1,078.
Learn more
Before leaning on 28270's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Matthews can differ from the 28270 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8a and Matthews's frost date answer different questions.