Ruidoso Downs, NM 88324 Frost Dates
Ruidoso Downs, NM: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/03, about 248 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/12, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ruidoso Downs in Zone 7b (5 to 10°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
With roughly 6 weeks until Ruidoso Downs's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Ruidoso Downs's last frost
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ruidoso Downs against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 161 frost-free days, Ruidoso Downs places 32,053 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NM, it ranks 241 of 427.
Learn more
Before leaning on 88324's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Ruidoso Downs's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Ruidoso Downs's dates instead of trusting one.