Austin, TX 78774 Frost Dates
Austin, TX: when does the frost end?
Around 02/20 is the usual last spring frost, about 176 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/03, roughly 291 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Austin in Zone 9a (20 to 25°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
With roughly 14 weeks until Austin's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 02/20 isn't a guarantee
02/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Austin against the rest of the dataset
About 291 days separate Austin's last and first frost, putting it 4,421 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TX, it ranks 583 of 2,558.
Learn more
Before leaning on 78774's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Austin can differ from the 78774 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Austin's frost date answer different questions.