Columbia, SC 29061 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Columbia, SC, ZIP 29061
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/13, about 197 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/19, about 253 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 Columbia, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8b around Columbia has about 12 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/21 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/31 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Columbia compares
About 253 days separate Columbia's last and first frost, putting it 7,070 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within SC, it ranks 82 of 519.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Columbia's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Columbia can differ from the 29061 normal.