Shallotte, NC 28462 Frost Dates
28462, near Shallotte, NC: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/20, roughly 204 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/17, roughly 243 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shallotte 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
Shallotte's growing season runs out in roughly 12 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 03/20 isn't a guarantee
03/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/04 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Shallotte against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 243 frost-free days, Shallotte places 8,295 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NC, it ranks 57 of 1,078.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 28462: local microclimates, on what one yard in Shallotte can differ from the 28462 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Shallotte's frost date answer different questions.