Harlan, KY 40830 Frost Dates
Harlan, KY: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/15, roughly 230 days out. 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
With roughly 9 weeks until Harlan'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
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
About 197 days separate Harlan's last and first frost, putting it 18,710 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within KY, it ranks 313 of 909.
Learn more
Before leaning on 40830's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Harlan's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Harlan can differ from the 40830 normal.