FrostDateCheck

Ector, TX 75439 Frost Dates

75439, near Ector, TX: the frost window

Zone 8a

Around 03/14 is the usual last spring frost, about 198 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/19, roughly 250 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ector in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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

Ector's growing season runs out in roughly 12 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 03/14 isn't a guarantee

03/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/25 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Ector against the rest of the dataset

About 250 days separate Ector's last and first frost, putting it 7,571 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TX, it ranks 1,697 of 2,558.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 75439: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8a and Ector's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Ector's dates instead of trusting one.