Houston, TX 77262 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Houston, TX?
Around 02/13 is the usual last spring frost, about 169 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/09, about 300 frost-free days later.
Houston sits in USDA Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 15 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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Houston compares
About 300 days separate Houston's last and first frost, putting it 4,044 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TX, it ranks 376 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.