Oak Island, NC 28465 Frost Dates
28465, near Oak Island, NC: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/24, about 208 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/17, roughly 239 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Oak Island 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
Oak Island'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 03/24 isn't a guarantee
03/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Oak Island against the rest of the dataset
About 239 days separate Oak Island's last and first frost, putting it 8,802 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NC, it ranks 80 of 1,078.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 28465: local microclimates, on what one yard in Oak Island can differ from the 28465 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Oak Island's frost date answer different questions.