Benton, AL 36785 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Benton, AL?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/21, about 205 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/07, about 233 frost-free days later.
Zone 8b (15 to 20°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Benton, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 10 weeks of growing season left in Benton before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Benton's last frost
03/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/27 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Benton compares
About 233 days separate Benton's last and first frost, putting it 10,012 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within AL, it ranks 453 of 809.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Benton can differ from the 36785 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8b and Benton's frost date answer different questions.