Chelsea, AL 35043 Frost Dates
Chelsea, AL: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/19, about 203 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/08, roughly 236 days after the last spring frost.
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 Chelsea, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 10 weeks until Chelsea's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/19 isn't a guarantee
03/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/09 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Chelsea against the rest of the dataset
Chelsea's growing season runs about 236 days, ranking 9,332 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AL, it ranks 373 of 809.
Learn more
Before leaning on 35043's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Chelsea can differ from the 35043 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8b and Chelsea's frost date answer different questions.