Abilene, TX 79604 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Abilene, TX?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/20, roughly 204 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/10, about 236 frost-free days later.
Zone 8a (10 to 15°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 Abilene, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 11 weeks of growing season left in Abilene before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Abilene's last frost
03/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/01 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/10 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Abilene compares
Abilene's growing season runs about 236 days, ranking 9,228 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within TX, it ranks 2,005 of 2,558.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Abilene can differ from the 79604 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8a and Abilene's frost date answer different questions.