Bessemer, AL 35022 Frost Dates
35022, near Bessemer, AL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/23, about 207 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/10, roughly 231 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bessemer in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Bessemer's growing season runs out in roughly 11 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 03/23 isn't a guarantee
03/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/03 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Bessemer against the rest of the dataset
Bessemer's growing season runs about 231 days, ranking 10,143 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AL, it ranks 455 of 809.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 35022: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Bessemer's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Bessemer's dates instead of trusting one.