Cleveland, OH Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves Cleveland on April 8 and comes back on November 12 when the odds are even, a window of 217 days for tender plants.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one spring in ten still has a freeze on or after April 20, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by November 1. The 100 cities covered here have a median season of 229 days, and Cleveland is close to it.

These dates come from the NOAA weather station Cleveland Burke AP (ID USW00004853), 2.7 miles north of the Census Bureau's internal point for Cleveland, at about 580 feet above sea level.

Cleveland's last spring frost, by chance

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after April 20 is a one-in-ten spring, after April 8 is a coin toss, and after March 29 is the usual case.

The early and late dates sit just 22 days apart, narrower than for most cities on these pages. Spring in Cleveland rarely surprises by much.

When is the first frost in Cleveland?

A first freeze on or before November 1 happens one fall in ten. By November 12 half of years have had one, and by November 28 nine years in ten have.

Just 27 days separate the early and late dates, tighter than most cities on these pages.

How long is the frost-free season in Cleveland?

That is close to the middle of the cities covered here. There is little difference between a typical season (217 days) and a short one (200 days) in Cleveland: 17 days, less than in most of the cities covered here.

NOAA counts these days from its own simulations, so they will not equal the number of days between the two typical dates exactly. A night at or below 32°F happens in 100% of years at this station, so frost is a yearly event here.

28°F dates in Cleveland

A hard freeze follows the first frost quickly in Cleveland: the typical 28°F night arrives on November 22 in fall, only 10 days after the first 32°F one on November 12, and in spring the last one comes on April 1, 7 days before the last 32°F frost. Tender plants get little warning here. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after April 13 happens one spring in ten and one by November 7 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are March 16 and December 8.

Planting dates for Cleveland, counted from the frost dates

University of New Hampshire Extension sorts vegetables by how they cope with cold. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost: counting from April 8, cabbage transplants go in on March 11 and lettuce from March 11 to March 18. Tender crops wait until it has passed, with peppers going out on April 22 and beans sown on or after April 8. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

From the late date, April 20, every tender crop moves back 12 days; that buys protection against a spring only one year in ten brings.

Of the 34 crops in the fall planner, 32 still have a July-or-later last planting day in Cleveland once NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days are counted back from frost. The other 2 do not. Of the crops that fit, collard greens is the slowest: 118 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 6 its last day.

Worked example: a tomato plan for Cleveland

Suppose you want tomatoes in Cleveland. University of New Hampshire Extension says to set transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost. Counting from the typical date, April 8, the window runs from April 15 to April 22. Counting from the late date, April 20, it moves to April 27 through May 4, which is 12 days later.

To have transplants ready on the first day of the late window, sow seeds six to eight weeks earlier, between March 2 and March 16.

Between the last set-out day and the early first frost on November 1 lie 181 days. Tomatoes need 75 to 85 days by NC State Extension's count, so the schedule has 96 days of slack even in an early-frost year.

The weather station behind these dates

The station is 2.7 miles north of the Census Bureau's internal point for Cleveland, near enough to be the city's reference record, though not in the same yard.

NOAA lists it at about 580 feet, higher than 41 and lower than 58 of the 100 stations in this set. In NOAA's file the record is marked R, meaning representative.

The Census Gazetteer gives no elevation for Cleveland itself, so this page cannot tell you whether your garden sits above or below the station. If it is noticeably higher or lower, compare the stations the frost dates tool lists nearby and lean toward the colder reading.

Cleveland compared with nearby cities

Of the cities on these pages, Detroit, MI is closest to Cleveland at 96 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor.

• Detroit, MI (96 miles, north-west): the last frost is 19 days later than in Cleveland, and the season runs 36 days shorter. Its typical dates are April 27 and October 25, with 181 days frost-free.
• Toledo, OH, 99 miles to the west: last frost April 20, first frost October 27, 188 days frost-free; its last frost comes 12 days after Cleveland's, and the frost-free season is 29 days shorter than Cleveland's.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 114 miles to the south-east: last frost April 18, first frost October 28, 193 days frost-free; the last frost is 10 days later than in Cleveland, and it has 24 days less without frost.

Next steps for Cleveland gardeners

Start with the spring planting planner for the whole crop list counted from these dates, and the fall planting planner for the last planting days. The frost dates tool shows every level of risk at this station, and the hardiness zone lookup covers winter survival for shrubs and perennials.

Every city covered is on the city frost dates index, sorted by state.

Where these numbers come from

The frost and freeze dates are NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11), copied from the station's own record without adjustment; NOAA's documentation defines each probability. The Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Cleveland on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 365,379 people here, decide which cities get a page.

Planting dates here are those rules from University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension, applied to this station's frost dates and nothing else. The methodology page explains how each figure is checked.

Frost dates are long-term odds, not a forecast. Before you plant, check the local forecast for the coming week, and keep row cover or old sheets handy for the nights the odds get wrong.