Yakima, WA 98920 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Yakima, WA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/08, roughly 223 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 196 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 Yakima, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Yakima before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/08 isn't a guarantee
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/28 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Yakima compares
At roughly 196 frost-free days, Yakima places 18,905 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within WA, it ranks 344 of 700.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Yakima can differ from the 98920 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7a and Yakima's frost date answer different questions.