Austin, TX 78708 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Austin, TX?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 02/20, about 176 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/03, about 291 frost-free days later.
Zone 9a (20 to 25°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 Austin, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 14 weeks of growing season left in Austin 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
02/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Austin compares
At roughly 291 frost-free days, Austin places 4,398 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within TX, it ranks 560 of 2,558.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Austin can differ from the 78708 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9a and Austin's frost date answer different questions.