Del Rio, TX 78842 Frost Dates
78842, near Del Rio, TX: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 02/16, about 172 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/03, roughly 293 days after the last spring frost.
Del Rio sits in USDA Zone 9a (20 to 25°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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Del Rio's growing season runs out in roughly 14 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 02/16 isn't a guarantee
02/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/19 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Del Rio against the rest of the dataset
About 293 days separate Del Rio's last and first frost, putting it 4,270 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TX, it ranks 524 of 2,558.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 78842: the frost range, on how to read the range around Del Rio's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Del Rio can differ from the 78842 normal.