Austin, TX 78778 Frost Dates
Austin, TX: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/20, roughly 176 days out. 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
At roughly 291 frost-free days, Austin places 4,422 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within TX, it ranks 584 of 2,558.
Learn more
Before leaning on 78778's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Austin can differ from the 78778 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Austin's frost date answer different questions.