Gainesville, AL 35464 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Gainesville, AL, ZIP 35464
Around 03/12 is the usual last spring frost, about 196 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/13, about 246 frost-free days later.
Gainesville sits in USDA Zone 8b (15 to 20°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8b around Gainesville has about 11 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/12 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/21 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/01 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Gainesville compares
Gainesville's growing season runs about 246 days, ranking 7,953 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AL, it ranks 238 of 809.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Gainesville can differ from the 35464 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8b and Gainesville's frost date answer different questions.