Memphis, TN 38188 Frost Dates
38188, near Memphis, TN: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/16, roughly 200 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/16, roughly 244 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Memphis in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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
Memphis's growing season runs out in roughly 11 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
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 8,142 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within TN, it ranks 48 of 770.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 38188: local microclimates, on what one yard in Memphis can differ from the 38188 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8a and Memphis's frost date answer different questions.