Gallup, NM 86506 Frost Dates
Gallup, NM: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/22, roughly 267 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/08, roughly 138 days after the last spring frost.
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 Gallup, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Gallup's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gallup against the rest of the dataset
About 138 days separate Gallup's last and first frost, putting it 37,352 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NM, it ranks 326 of 427.
Learn more
Before leaning on 86506's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Gallup can differ from the 86506 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and Gallup's frost date answer different questions.