Tacoma, WA 98403 Frost Dates
98403, near Tacoma, WA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/08, about 192 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/14, roughly 250 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tacoma in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Tacoma's growing season runs out in roughly 11 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 03/08 isn't a guarantee
03/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/15 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/31 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Tacoma against the rest of the dataset
Tacoma's growing season runs about 250 days, ranking 7,413 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within WA, it ranks 80 of 700.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 98403: local microclimates, on what one yard in Tacoma can differ from the 98403 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Tacoma's frost date answer different questions.