Gatlinburg, TN 37738 Frost Dates
Gatlinburg, TN: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/17, roughly 232 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/25, roughly 189 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gatlinburg in Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 8 weeks until Gatlinburg's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/17 isn't a guarantee
04/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/31 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/02 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gatlinburg against the rest of the dataset
About 189 days separate Gatlinburg's last and first frost, putting it 21,575 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TN, it ranks 677 of 770.
Learn more
Before leaning on 37738's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Gatlinburg's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Gatlinburg can differ from the 37738 normal.