Las Cruces, NM 88052 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Las Cruces, NM, ZIP 88052
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/12, about 196 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/13, about 241 frost-free days later.
Las Cruces sits in USDA Zone 8b (15 to 20°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8b around Las Cruces has about 11 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Las Cruces's last frost
03/12 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/02 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Las Cruces compares
About 241 days separate Las Cruces's last and first frost, putting it 8,505 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NM, it ranks 10 of 427.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Las Cruces can differ from the 88052 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8b and Las Cruces's frost date answer different questions.