Capitan, NM 88341 Frost Dates
Capitan, 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.
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 Capitan, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Capitan's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/03 isn't a guarantee
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.
Capitan against the rest of the dataset
About 161 days separate Capitan's last and first frost, putting it 32,087 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NM, it ranks 246 of 427.
Learn more
Before leaning on 88341's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Capitan can differ from the 88341 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Capitan's frost date answer different questions.