Socorro, TX 88512 Frost Dates
88512, near Socorro, TX: the frost window
Around 03/02 is the usual last spring frost, about 186 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/20, roughly 261 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 8b (15 to 20°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 Socorro, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Socorro's growing season runs out in roughly 12 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 03/02 isn't a guarantee
03/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Socorro against the rest of the dataset
Socorro's growing season runs about 261 days, ranking 6,309 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within TX, it ranks 1,209 of 2,558.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 88512: the frost range, on how to read the range around Socorro's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Socorro can differ from the 88512 normal.