Jackson, AL 36545 Frost Dates
36545, near Jackson, AL: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/18, roughly 202 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/12, roughly 239 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Jackson 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
Jackson's growing season runs out in roughly 11 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
03/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/25 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Jackson against the rest of the dataset
About 239 days separate Jackson's last and first frost, putting it 8,823 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within AL, it ranks 322 of 809.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 36545: local microclimates, on what one yard in Jackson can differ from the 36545 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Jackson's frost date answer different questions.