Bethune, SC 29032 Frost Dates
29032, near Bethune, SC: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/04, about 219 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 213 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 Bethune, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Bethune's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/04 isn't a guarantee
04/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Bethune against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 213 frost-free days, Bethune places 14,539 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within SC, it ranks 466 of 519.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 29032: the frost range, on how to read the range around Bethune's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Bethune can differ from the 29032 normal.