Dover, NC 28526 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Dover, NC?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/01, roughly 216 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/04, about 217 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 Dover, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 10 weeks of growing season left in Dover before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Dover's last frost
04/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/15 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Dover compares
Dover's growing season runs about 217 days, ranking 13,611 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NC, it ranks 684 of 1,078.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Dover's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Dover can differ from the 28526 normal.