Washougal, WA 97286 Frost Dates
97286, near Washougal, WA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/16, roughly 200 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/20, roughly 250 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 9a (20 to 25°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 Washougal, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Washougal'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Washougal against the rest of the dataset
About 250 days separate Washougal's last and first frost, putting it 7,492 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WA, it ranks 112 of 700.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 97286: local microclimates, on what one yard in Washougal can differ from the 97286 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 9a and Washougal's frost date answer different questions.