DeWitt, AR 72042 Frost Dates
72042, near DeWitt, AR: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/17, roughly 201 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/10, roughly 238 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts DeWitt 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
DeWitt's growing season runs out in roughly 11 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 03/17 isn't a guarantee
03/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/05 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
DeWitt against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 238 frost-free days, DeWitt places 8,977 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AR, it ranks 106 of 687.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 72042: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and DeWitt's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around DeWitt's dates instead of trusting one.