Memphis, TN 38159 Frost Dates
Memphis, TN: when does the frost end?
Around 03/16 is the usual last spring frost, about 200 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/16, roughly 244 days after the last spring frost.
Memphis sits in USDA Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 11 weeks until Memphis's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/04 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Memphis against the rest of the dataset
Memphis's growing season runs about 244 days, ranking 8,126 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within TN, it ranks 32 of 770.
Learn more
Before leaning on 38159's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Memphis can differ from the 38159 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8a and Memphis's frost date answer different questions.