Sarasota, FL 34206 Frost Dates
34206, near Sarasota, FL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/16, about 141 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 01/11, roughly 365 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sarasota in Zone 10a (30 to 35°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
Sarasota's growing season runs out in roughly 19 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
01/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Sarasota against the rest of the dataset
About 365 days separate Sarasota's last and first frost, putting it 805 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within FL, it ranks 301 of 1,609.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 34206: local microclimates, on what one yard in Sarasota can differ from the 34206 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 10a and Sarasota's frost date answer different questions.