Ruidoso Downs, NM 88346 Frost Dates
Ruidoso Downs, NM: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/11, roughly 256 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 147 days after the last spring frost.
Ruidoso Downs sits in USDA Zone 7a (0 to 5°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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Ruidoso Downs's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/30 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ruidoso Downs against the rest of the dataset
Ruidoso Downs's growing season runs about 147 days, ranking 35,911 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NM, it ranks 304 of 427.
Learn more
Before leaning on 88346's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a 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.