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

Frost leaves Columbus on April 20 and comes back on October 24 when the odds are even, a window of 185 days for tender plants.

Put May 7 and October 13 on the calendar as well. A spring freeze after the first of them, or a fall freeze before the second, happens in only one year out of ten, so those dates cover nine years in ten. Against the 100-city median of 229 days, Columbus has 44 days less room before frost returns.

NOAA measured them at Columbus Wcmh (station USC00331785), about 3.6 miles north-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Columbus and about 740 feet above sea level.

Last spring frost in Columbus

NOAA gives April 5 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, April 20 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and May 7 as the date only one year in ten passes.

The early and late dates are 32 days apart, about the spread most cities on these pages show.

Columbus's first fall frost, by chance

Expect the first freeze of fall by October 24 in a typical year. One year in ten brings it by October 13, and nine in ten have had it by November 4.

Fall frost keeps to a tight calendar in Columbus: 22 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 Columbus?

That is shorter than most places on these pages, so days to maturity on the seed packet matter more than usual. Seasons here barely vary: the typical year gives 185 days and a short one still gives 164 days, only 21 days less, a steadier record than most cities on these pages.

The season lengths come from NOAA's simulated years, not from subtracting one typical date from the other, so the two will not match to the day. 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 Columbus

The two freezes sit close together here. The typical hard freeze reaches Columbus on November 3, 10 days after the first frost, and ends on April 8, 12 days ahead of the last. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after April 25 happens one spring in ten and one by October 22 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are March 24 and November 16.

Using Columbus's frost dates in the garden

In Columbus the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on April 20: lettuce from March 23 to March 30, cabbage on March 23, seed potatoes from April 6 to April 13, then peppers on May 4 and beans from April 20. The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet gives peas no frost count at all; sow them as soon as the soil thaws.

From the late date, May 7, every tender crop moves back 17 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 Columbus only 29 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 5 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. Of the crops that fit, Chinese cabbage is the slowest: 103 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 2 its last day.

Worked example: tomatoes in Columbus

A gardener in Columbus who follows University of New Hampshire Extension sets tomato transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost: April 27 to May 4 from the typical date of April 20, or May 14 to May 21 from the late date of May 7, 17 days later.

To have transplants ready on the first day of the late window, sow seeds six to eight weeks earlier, between March 19 and April 2.

Between the last set-out day and the early first frost on October 13 lie 145 days. Tomatoes need 75 to 85 days by NC State Extension's count, so the schedule has 60 days of slack even in an early-frost year.

About the Columbus Wcmh station

The nearest usable station stands 3.6 miles north-west of Columbus's internal point, near the city but not in it.

At about 740 feet, it ranks above 58 and below 41 of the 100 stations used for these pages. NOAA flags this station's record as representative, the code R, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

No elevation is available for Columbus 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 Columbus's frost dates compare

Here is how Columbus, with a last frost on April 20 and a first frost on October 24, compares with the three nearest cities on these pages, the closest being Cincinnati, OH at 100 miles.

• Cincinnati, OH, 100 miles to the south-west: last frost April 16, first frost October 25, 190 days frost-free; spring frost ends 4 days sooner than in Columbus, and the season is about the same length as Columbus's.
• Toledo, OH lies 120 miles north of Columbus. Typical last frost April 20, first frost October 27, 188 days between; spring frost ends about when it does in Columbus, and the season is within about a week of Columbus's.
• Cleveland, OH lies 124 miles north-east of Columbus. Typical last frost April 8, first frost November 12, 217 days between; spring frost ends 12 days sooner than in Columbus, and the season runs 32 days longer.

Take these dates further

To go beyond the crops above, use the spring planting planner and fall planting planner, both set to this station. The frost dates tool shows the full odds for Columbus, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

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 Columbus on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 933,263 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.