Fayetteville, NC 28304 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Fayetteville, NC?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/22, about 206 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/13, about 236 frost-free days later.
Zone 8b (15 to 20°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 Fayetteville, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 11 weeks of growing season left in Fayetteville before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/05 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Fayetteville compares
At roughly 236 frost-free days, Fayetteville places 9,213 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NC, it ranks 122 of 1,078.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Fayetteville can differ from the 28304 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8b and Fayetteville's frost date answer different questions.