Salem, AR 72520 Frost Dates
72520, near Salem, AR: the frost window
Around 04/08 is the usual last spring frost, about 223 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 204 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Salem 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
Salem'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/22 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Salem against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 204 frost-free days, Salem places 16,651 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AR, it ranks 570 of 687.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 72520: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Salem's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Salem's dates instead of trusting one.