Crestone, CO 81131 Frost Dates
81131, near Crestone, CO: the frost window
Around 05/26 is the usual last spring frost, about 271 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/26, roughly 120 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5a (-20 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 Crestone, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Crestone's growing season runs out in roughly 4 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/09 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Crestone against the rest of the dataset
About 120 days separate Crestone's last and first frost, putting it 39,108 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CO, it ranks 464 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 81131: the frost range, on how to read the range around Crestone's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Crestone can differ from the 81131 normal.