Houston, TX 77020 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Houston, TX?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/30, about 155 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/28, about 330 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Houston in Zone 9b (25 to 30°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
About 17 weeks of growing season left in Houston before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Houston's last frost
01/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/01 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/29 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Houston compares
At roughly 330 frost-free days, Houston places 2,966 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within TX, it ranks 141 of 2,558.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Houston's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Houston's dates instead of trusting one.