Gentry, AR 72734 Frost Dates
72734, near Gentry, AR: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/08, about 223 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/28, roughly 203 days after the last spring frost.
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 Gentry, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Gentry'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 04/08 isn't a guarantee
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/21 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gentry against the rest of the dataset
About 203 days separate Gentry's last and first frost, putting it 16,902 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within AR, it ranks 581 of 687.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 72734: local microclimates, on what one yard in Gentry can differ from the 72734 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Gentry's frost date answer different questions.