Rutledge, TN 37861 Frost Dates
Rutledge, TN: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/31, roughly 215 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 217 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 7b (5 to 10°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 Rutledge, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 10 weeks until Rutledge's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 03/31 isn't a guarantee
03/31 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rutledge against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 217 frost-free days, Rutledge places 13,545 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within TN, it ranks 189 of 770.
Learn more
Before leaning on 37861's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Rutledge's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Rutledge can differ from the 37861 normal.