Homestead, FL 33243 Frost Dates
33243, near Homestead, FL: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 01/18, roughly 143 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 01/13, roughly 365 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Homestead in Zone 11a (40 to 45°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
Homestead's growing season runs out in roughly 20 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
01/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/31 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Homestead against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 365 frost-free days, Homestead places 635 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within FL, it ranks 200 of 1,609.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 33243: local microclimates, on what one yard in Homestead can differ from the 33243 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 11a and Homestead's frost date answer different questions.