Apache Junction, AZ 85178 Frost Dates
85178, near Apache Junction, AZ: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/11, roughly 167 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/10, roughly 304 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Apache Junction in Zone 9b (25 to 30°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
Apache Junction's growing season runs out in roughly 15 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 02/11 isn't a guarantee
02/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/07 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Apache Junction against the rest of the dataset
Apache Junction's growing season runs about 304 days, ranking 3,752 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within AZ, it ranks 253 of 506.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 85178: the frost range, on how to read the range around Apache Junction's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Apache Junction can differ from the 85178 normal.