FrostDateCheck

Opelika, AL 36801 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Opelika, AL?

Zone 8a

The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/29, about 213 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/05, about 223 frost-free days later.

Zone 8a (10 to 15°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 Opelika, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

About 10 weeks of growing season left in Opelika before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

The actual range around Opelika's last frost

03/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/06 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/15 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Opelika compares

At roughly 223 frost-free days, Opelika places 12,022 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AL, it ranks 605 of 809.

Learn more

the frost range covers how to read the range around Opelika's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Opelika can differ from the 36801 normal.