Harlan, KY 40818 Frost Dates
40818, near Harlan, KY: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/15, about 230 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 197 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Harlan in Zone 7a (0 to 5°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
Harlan's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/15 isn't a guarantee
04/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/31 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Harlan against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 197 frost-free days, Harlan places 18,708 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KY, it ranks 311 of 909.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 40818: the frost range, on how to read the range around Harlan's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Harlan can differ from the 40818 normal.