Durham, NC Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

The last spring frost in Durham, NC comes on April 2 in a typical year, and the first fall frost follows on November 4, leaving a frost-free season of 217 days.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one spring in ten still has a freeze on or after April 18, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by October 24. Durham lands within a couple of weeks of the middle of the 100 cities covered here, whose median season is 229 days.

The numbers belong to Durham, NOAA station USC00312515, which sits 5.7 miles north-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Durham at an elevation of about 400 feet.

Last spring frost in Durham

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after April 18 is a one-in-ten spring, after April 2 is a coin toss, and after March 15 is the usual case.

Spring dates in Durham spread over 34 days from the 90% date to the 10% date, close to the middle of the cities covered here.

Durham's first fall frost, by chance

In Durham the first freeze has arrived by October 24 in one fall out of ten, by November 4 in five, and by November 19 in nine.

The early and late fall dates are only 26 days apart, a narrow band next to most cities here, so the first freeze keeps close to its schedule in Durham.

How long is the frost-free season in Durham?

The season is about as long as the middle of these pages. A short year costs just 20 days against a typical one (197 days against 217 days), so a season-length plan for Durham holds up in most years.

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. A night at or below 32°F happens in 100% of years at this station, so frost is a yearly event here.

When a hard freeze reaches Durham

Hard freezes trail the light ones by 12 days in fall (November 16 against November 4) and by 14 days in spring (March 19 against April 2). One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after April 6, and one fall in ten sees the first by November 2.

Planting dates for Durham, counted from the frost dates

The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet times each crop from the last frost. For Durham's typical date, April 2, that means cabbage on March 5, lettuce from March 5 to March 12, seed potatoes from March 19 to March 26, and, once the frost is behind you, peppers on April 16 and beans on or after April 2. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

The late date comes 16 days after the typical one; choose it for plants you cannot cover.

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 Durham only 32 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 2 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. Of the crops that fit, lima/pole beans is the slowest: 113 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 3 its last day.

Worked example: setting out tomatoes in Durham

A gardener in Durham who follows University of New Hampshire Extension sets tomato transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost: April 9 to April 16 from the typical date of April 2, or April 25 to May 2 from the late date of April 18, 16 days later.

To have transplants ready on the first day of the late window, sow seeds six to eight weeks earlier, between February 28 and March 14.

Between the last set-out day and the early first frost on October 24 lie 175 days. Tomatoes need 75 to 85 days by NC State Extension's count, so the schedule has 90 days of slack even in an early-frost year.

Where Durham's numbers are measured

5.7 miles north-west of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Durham.

At about 400 feet, it ranks above 28 and below 70 of the 100 stations used for these pages. Its completeness flag is R, which NOAA uses for a representative record.

The Census Gazetteer gives no elevation for Durham 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.

Nearby cities and their frost dates

All three of the closest cities on these pages are within a hundred miles, led by Raleigh, NC at 18 miles, so their differences show how much a few miles can move a frost date.

• Raleigh, NC lies 18 miles south-east of Durham. Typical last frost March 28, first frost November 8, 229 days between; the last frost is 5 days earlier than in Durham, and it has 12 days more without frost.
• Greensboro, NC lies 52 miles west of Durham. Typical last frost April 1, first frost November 4, 217 days between; its last frost falls within a few days of Durham's, and the season is within about a week of Durham's.
• Fayetteville, NC lies 62 miles south of Durham. Typical last frost March 30, first frost November 10, 227 days between; spring frost ends about when it does in Durham, and the season runs 10 days longer.

Put the frost dates to work

The frost dates tool opens on this station and lists every probability date, not just the ones above. From there, the spring planting planner and fall planting planner turn the dates into crop lists for Durham, and the hardiness zone lookup answers what will overwinter.

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

For North Carolina, the state planting pages copy the Extension calendar (NC State Extension) crop by crop and region by region: tomatoes in North Carolina, peppers in North Carolina, cucumbers in North Carolina, summer squash in North Carolina, green beans in North Carolina. Set those windows beside the frost dates above.

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. Durham and its internal point are listed in the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer of places; its place in the ranking comes from the Vintage 2024 population estimates, which count 301,870 residents.

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. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

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.