Harlan, KY 40831 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Harlan, KY?
Around 04/15 is the usual last spring frost, about 230 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/30, about 197 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 Harlan, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 9 weeks of growing season left in Harlan before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Harlan's last frost
04/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/31 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/01 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Harlan compares
About 197 days separate Harlan's last and first frost, putting it 18,711 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within KY, it ranks 314 of 909.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7a and Harlan's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Harlan's dates instead of trusting one.