Vancouver, WA 98686 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Vancouver, WA, ZIP 98686
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/26, about 241 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/18, about 177 frost-free days later.
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 Vancouver, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 8b around Vancouver has about 7 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/10 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Vancouver compares
At roughly 177 frost-free days, Vancouver places 25,965 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within WA, it ranks 458 of 700.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Vancouver can differ from the 98686 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8b and Vancouver's frost date answer different questions.