FrostDateCheck

Cordova, AL 35550 Frost Dates

35550, near Cordova, AL: the frost window

Zone 8a

Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/30, roughly 214 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 220 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cordova in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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

Cordova's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 03/30 isn't a guarantee

03/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/10 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Cordova against the rest of the dataset

At roughly 220 frost-free days, Cordova places 12,837 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AL, it ranks 643 of 809.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 35550: local microclimates, on what one yard in Cordova can differ from the 35550 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8a and Cordova's frost date answer different questions.