Fruita, CO 81523 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Fruita, CO, ZIP 81523
Around 05/21 is the usual last spring frost, about 266 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/26, about 126 frost-free days later.
Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Fruita, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6b around Fruita has about 4 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Fruita's last frost
05/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/06 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Fruita compares
About 126 days separate Fruita's last and first frost, putting it 38,680 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CO, it ranks 451 of 624.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Fruita can differ from the 81523 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and Fruita's frost date answer different questions.