Portland, TX 78426 Frost Dates
78426, near Portland, TX: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/28, about 153 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/21, roughly 331 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 10a (30 to 35°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 Portland, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Portland's growing season runs out in roughly 16 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
01/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Portland against the rest of the dataset
Portland's growing season runs about 331 days, ranking 2,936 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within TX, it ranks 122 of 2,558.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 78426: the frost range, on how to read the range around Portland's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Portland can differ from the 78426 normal.