Española, NM 87511 Frost Dates
87511, near Española, NM: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/11, about 256 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/06, roughly 149 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 Española, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Española's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/11 isn't a guarantee
05/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Española against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 149 frost-free days, Española places 35,495 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NM, it ranks 277 of 427.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 87511: local microclimates, on what one yard in Española can differ from the 87511 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Española's frost date answer different questions.