FrostDateCheck

Columbia, AL 36319 Frost Dates

Columbia, AL: when does the frost end?

Zone 9a

Around 03/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 189 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/24, roughly 264 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbia in Zone 9a (20 to 25°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

With roughly 13 weeks until Columbia's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.

The actual range around Columbia's last frost

03/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Columbia against the rest of the dataset

Columbia's growing season runs about 264 days, ranking 6,083 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AL, it ranks 105 of 809.

Learn more

Before leaning on 36319's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Columbia's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Columbia can differ from the 36319 normal.