Valdez, AK 99686 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Valdez, AK, ZIP 99686
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/30, about 245 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/02, about 157 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Valdez in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Valdez has about 5 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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/17 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 Valdez compares
At roughly 157 frost-free days, Valdez places 33,313 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within AK, it ranks 36 of 269.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Valdez's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Valdez's dates instead of trusting one.