Frost dates for Shelby 2 NW, North Carolina
Half of years have their last spring frost by April 12, but 1 year in 10 still frosts after April 28.
A frost date is really a percentile from 30 years of records at a nearby weather station: in about half of years a frost still comes after the median date. Both numbers are below, so you can choose the risk yourself.
The odds
Last spring frost
How often a frost still comes on or after each date.
- 1 year in 10
- April 28
- 1 year in 5
- April 22
- 3 years in 10
- April 19
- 2 years in 5
- April 15
- Half of years (the median)
- April 12
First fall freeze
How often the first freeze comes on or before each date.
- 1 year in 10
- October 12
- 1 year in 5
- October 16
- 3 years in 10
- October 19
- 2 years in 5
- October 22
- Half of years (the median)
- October 25
- Growing season
- about 195 days
- Hardiness zone nearby
- 8a
- Summer days
- a usual high of about 32 °C89 °F
- Lettuce and spinach run to seed
- May to September, in hot, long days (how we know)
Summer and rain
A growing garden needs about 25 mm1 in of water a week, rain and watering together. Here is what a normal month brings.
Month by month
- January
- high ~11 °C53 °F · low ~-3 °C27 °F · rain ~110 mm4.3 in
- February
- high ~14 °C56 °F · low ~-1 °C29 °F · rain ~85 mm3.4 in
- March
- high ~18 °C64 °F · low ~2 °C36 °F · rain ~119 mm4.7 in
- April
- high ~23 °C73 °F · low ~7 °C44 °F · rain ~108 mm4.3 in
- May
- high ~27 °C80 °F · low ~12 °C54 °F · rain ~109 mm4.3 in
- June
- high ~31 °C87 °F · low ~17 °C62 °F · rain ~114 mm4.5 in
- July
- high ~33 °C91 °F · low ~19 °C66 °F · rain ~112 mm4.4 in
- August
- high ~32 °C89 °F · low ~18 °C65 °F · rain ~114 mm4.5 in
- September
- high ~28 °C83 °F · low ~14 °C58 °F · rain ~101 mm4 in
- October
- high ~23 °C74 °F · low ~7 °C45 °F · rain ~94 mm3.7 in
- November
- high ~18 °C64 °F · low ~1 °C35 °F · rain ~101 mm4 in
- December
- high ~13 °C55 °F · low ~-1 °C29 °F · rain ~112 mm4.4 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Shelby 2 NW station (listed by NOAA as Shelby 2 NW, USC00317845), at 35.31, -81.57. These are that station’s own records, unshifted. The further your garden is from it, the less exactly they describe your ground. The planner finds the nearest station to your garden and lowers its confidence with distance, so no number is presented as if it were measured in your garden.
Cold air also pools in low ground on the clear, still nights when frost happens, so a hollow can freeze while a slope a few hundred feet away does not. No table can know that about your garden. A few seasons of your own logged frosts can.
ZIP codes nearest this station
28017, 28040, 28073, 28086, 28089, 28090, 28114, 28150, 28152, 28169.
Nearby stations
The nearest stations and how their last-frost dates compare. Together they show how frost varies across your area.
- Charlotte Douglas Airport, NC, last frost by March 30
- Tryon, NC, last frost by March 27
- Fountain Inn 2 SW, SC, last frost by March 29
- Salisbury 9 WNW, NC, last frost by April 9
- Boone 1 SE, NC, last frost by May 2
- Elizabethton, TN, last frost by April 19
Other stations in North Carolina.
- Rural Hall, NC, last frost by April 6
- Raleigh State Univ, NC, last frost by March 28
When do I plant? · Where the dates come from
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