Colorado Springs, CO Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves Colorado Springs on May 3 and comes back on October 8 when the odds are even, a window of 158 days for tender plants.

Dates at even odds leave half of all years unprotected. The safer pair for Colorado Springs is May 15 in spring, which only one year in ten passes, and September 26 in fall, which one year in ten arrives before. Among the 100 cities covered here, whose median season is 229 days, Colorado Springs ranks 96th for length and falls 71 days below the middle.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Colorado Springs Muni AP (NOAA USW00093037), 5.6 miles south-east of Colorado Springs's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 6,200 feet up.

Colorado Springs's last spring frost, by chance

NOAA gives April 22 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, May 3 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and May 15 as the date only one year in ten passes.

The early and late dates sit just 23 days apart, narrower than for most cities on these pages. Spring in Colorado Springs rarely surprises by much.

When is the first frost in Colorado Springs?

NOAA's early fall date for Colorado Springs is September 26, its even-odds date is October 8 and its late date is October 19; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

Fall frost keeps to a tight calendar in Colorado Springs: 23 days from the 10% date to the 90% date, less than in most of the 100 cities here.

How long is the frost-free season in Colorado Springs?

With a season well short of the middle of these pages, Colorado Springs leaves little time for slow crops, as the planting dates below show. There is little difference between a typical season (158 days) and a short one (140 days) in Colorado Springs: 18 days, less than in most of the cities covered here.

These figures are NOAA's own counts of freeze-free days across its simulated years, which is why they can differ a little from the days between the two typical dates. Every winter in the record reached freezing at Colorado Springs Muni AP, so the dates above describe a real yearly event, not a rare one.

28°F dates in Colorado Springs

Between a light frost and a hard freeze there is little room in Colorado Springs: the typical 28°F dates are October 16 and April 24, just 8 days and 9 days from the 32°F dates. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after May 5, and one fall in ten sees the first by October 4.

Planting dates for Colorado Springs, counted from the frost dates

Counting from May 3, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on April 5 and lettuce from April 5 to April 12, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until May 17 and beans until May 3 or later. Peas are the exception to the count: University of New Hampshire Extension says to plant them as soon as the soil thaws, whatever the frost date.

From the late date, May 15, every tender crop moves back 12 days; that buys protection against a spring only one year in ten brings.

Fall crops are counted back from the first frost, using NC State Extension's days to harvest plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days. In Colorado Springs only 20 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 14 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. Of the crops that fit, cauliflower is the slowest: 83 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 5 its last day.

Worked example: setting out tomatoes in Colorado Springs

Suppose you want tomatoes in Colorado Springs. University of New Hampshire Extension says to set transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost. Counting from the typical date, May 3, the window runs from May 10 to May 17. Counting from the late date, May 15, it moves to May 22 through May 29, 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 27 and April 10.

From the last set-out day to the early first frost on September 26 is 120 days. NC State Extension gives 75 to 85 days, and the longer figure still fits with 35 days to spare.

Where Colorado Springs's numbers are measured

5.6 miles south-east of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Colorado Springs.

Its elevation is about 6,200 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 0 sit higher and 99 lower. In NOAA's file the record is marked S, meaning standard.

No elevation is available for Colorado Springs in the Census data we saved, so the station's height may or may not match your garden's. Compare nearby stations in the frost dates tool if it does not, and err toward the colder dates.

How Colorado Springs's frost dates compare

Of the cities on these pages, Aurora, CO is closest to Colorado Springs at 58 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor. Elevation differs: the station for Aurora is 550 feet below the one for Colorado Springs, which is worth remembering when you compare them.

• Aurora, CO (58 miles, north): its last frost comes 4 days after Colorado Springs's, and the season is about the same length as Colorado Springs's. Its typical dates are May 7 and October 8, with 152 days frost-free.
• Denver, CO (62 miles, north): its last frost falls within a few days of Colorado Springs's, and the season is about the same length as Colorado Springs's. Its typical dates are May 4 and October 8, with 156 days frost-free.
• Albuquerque, NM lies 280 miles south of Colorado Springs. Typical last frost April 15, first frost October 27, 193 days between; the last frost is 18 days earlier than in Colorado Springs, and it has 35 days more without frost.

Next steps for Colorado Springs 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.

Looking for another city? The city frost dates index lists every page, grouped by state.

Where these numbers come from

NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11) supply every frost date here, unchanged from the station's record, and NOAA's documentation defines the probabilities. The Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Colorado Springs on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 493,554 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.

These dates describe odds over many years, not next week's weather. Look at the forecast before you plant, and keep a sheet or row cover ready for a night that does not follow the odds.