Chama, NM 87551 Frost Dates
87551, near Chama, NM: the frost window
Around 06/11 is the usual last spring frost, about 287 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/20, roughly 98 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Chama, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Chama's growing season runs out in roughly 3 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 06/11 isn't a guarantee
06/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/29 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Chama against the rest of the dataset
Chama's growing season runs about 98 days, ranking 39,759 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NM, it ranks 403 of 427.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 87551: local microclimates, on what one yard in Chama can differ from the 87551 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Chama's frost date answer different questions.