FrostDateCheck

Decatur, AR 72736 Frost Dates

Frost dates for Decatur, AR, ZIP 72736

Zone 7a

The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/05, about 220 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/28, about 204 frost-free days later.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Decatur in Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 7a around Decatur has about 9 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.

Why 04/05 isn't a guarantee

04/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/18 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/26 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Decatur compares

At roughly 204 frost-free days, Decatur places 16,642 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AR, it ranks 568 of 687.

Learn more

zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Decatur's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Decatur's dates instead of trusting one.