Homestead, FL 33261 Frost Dates
33261, near Homestead, FL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/18, about 143 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 01/13, roughly 365 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 11a (40 to 45°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 Homestead, not a forecast for this year.
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.
Why 01/18 isn't a guarantee
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 641 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within FL, it ranks 206 of 1,609.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 33261: the frost range, on how to read the range around Homestead's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Homestead can differ from the 33261 normal.