Clayton, AL 36016 Frost Dates
36016, near Clayton, AL: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/11, roughly 195 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/19, roughly 254 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clayton 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
Clayton's growing season runs out in roughly 12 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
03/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/30 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Clayton against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 254 frost-free days, Clayton places 7,035 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AL, it ranks 176 of 809.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 36016: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Clayton's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Clayton's dates instead of trusting one.