Scottsdale, AZ 85050 Frost Dates
85050, near Scottsdale, AZ: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 01/08, roughly 133 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/25, roughly 354 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Scottsdale in Zone 10a (30 to 35°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
Scottsdale's growing season runs out in roughly 17 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 01/08 isn't a guarantee
01/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Scottsdale against the rest of the dataset
Scottsdale's growing season runs about 354 days, ranking 2,161 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AZ, it ranks 49 of 506.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 85050: the frost range, on how to read the range around Scottsdale's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Scottsdale can differ from the 85050 normal.