Starkville, MS 39760 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Starkville, MS?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/23, roughly 207 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/08, about 233 frost-free days later.
Zone 8a (10 to 15°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 Starkville, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 10 weeks of growing season left in Starkville before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/28 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/13 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Starkville compares
Starkville's growing season runs about 233 days, ranking 9,857 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MS, it ranks 336 of 523.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Starkville can differ from the 39760 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8a and Starkville's frost date answer different questions.