Cary, MS 39088 Frost Dates
39088, near Cary, MS: the frost window
Around 03/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 189 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/20, roughly 261 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cary in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Cary's growing season runs out in roughly 12 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
03/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cary against the rest of the dataset
About 261 days separate Cary's last and first frost, putting it 6,455 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MS, it ranks 65 of 523.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 39088: the frost range, on how to read the range around Cary's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Cary can differ from the 39088 normal.