El Paso, TX Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves El Paso on March 2 and comes back on November 20 when the odds are even, a window of 261 days for tender plants.

Put March 19 and November 6 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 a median of 229 days for the 100 cities on these pages, El Paso has a season 32 days longer, 31st on the list.

These dates come from the NOAA weather station El Paso International AP (ID USW00023044), 4.1 miles south-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for El Paso, at about 3,900 feet above sea level.

El Paso's last spring frost, by chance

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after March 19 is a one-in-ten spring, after March 2 is a coin toss, and after February 12 is the usual case.

From the earliest date to the latest is 35 days, a middling band against the other 100 cities.

First fall frost in El Paso

In El Paso the first freeze has arrived by November 6 in one fall out of ten, by November 20 in five, and by December 2 in nine.

Just 26 days separate the early and late dates, tighter than most cities on these pages.

The growing season in El Paso

A little more room than the middle of these pages, then, but not a different kind of garden. The record runs from 237 days in a short year through 261 days in a typical one to 284 days in a long one, a swing of 24 days below typical that is middling for 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.

Hard freeze dates for El Paso

NOAA's even-odds hard freeze dates for El Paso are December 1 in fall and February 16 in spring, 11 days and 14 days from the matching 32°F dates. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after March 7, and one fall in ten sees the first by November 15.

Planting dates for El Paso, counted from the frost dates

In El Paso the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on March 2: lettuce from February 2 to February 9, cabbage on February 2, seed potatoes from February 16 to February 23, then peppers on March 16 and beans from March 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 17 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 El Paso 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. The slowest crop that still fits is collard greens, which needs 118 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 11.

Worked example: planting broccoli for fall in El Paso

Broccoli transplants need up to 80 days to reach harvest by NC State Extension's table, and University of Georgia Extension adds 18 days to harvest, so 98 days must pass before frost. In El Paso the last planting day is August 14 against the typical first frost on November 20, and July 31 against the early date on November 6.

The two answers are 14 days apart, a wide enough gap that the early date is the safer one to follow in El Paso.

Spring is the other end of the same arithmetic: University of New Hampshire Extension sets cabbage-family transplants out two to four weeks before the last frost, which from March 2 puts cabbage out on February 2.

Where El Paso's numbers are measured

The station is 4.1 miles south-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for El Paso, near enough to be the city's reference record, though not in the same yard.

At about 3,900 feet, it ranks above 93 and below 6 of the 100 stations used for these pages. NOAA flags this station's record as standard, the code S, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

Because the Census file has no elevation for El Paso, we cannot say how far your yard is above or below this station. When yours is clearly higher or lower, open the nearby stations in the frost dates tool and favor the colder one.

How El Paso's frost dates compare

No other city in this set lies within 150 miles of El Paso; the nearest is Albuquerque, NM, 225 miles away, so the comparison below crosses real climate differences, not a county line. Elevation differs: the station for Albuquerque is 1,200 feet above the one for El Paso, which is worth remembering when you compare them.

• Albuquerque, NM (225 miles, north): the last frost is 44 days later than in El Paso, and the season runs 68 days shorter. Its typical dates are April 15 and October 27, with 193 days frost-free.
• Tucson, AZ, 261 miles to the west: last frost February 5, first frost December 9, 307 days frost-free; the last frost is 25 days earlier than in El Paso, and the season runs 46 days longer.
• Lubbock, TX lies 289 miles north-east of El Paso. Typical last frost April 4, first frost November 2, 210 days between; its last frost comes 33 days after El Paso's, and it has 51 days less without frost.

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 El Paso, and the hardiness zone lookup answers what will overwinter.

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

For Texas, the state planting pages copy the Extension calendar (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension) crop by crop and region by region: tomatoes in Texas, peppers in Texas, cucumbers in Texas, summer squash in Texas, green beans in Texas. Set those windows beside the frost dates above.

Where these numbers come from

Every frost and freeze date comes from the station's entry in NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11), with no adjustment, and NOAA's documentation explains what each probability means. The city and its internal point come from the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer of places, and the ranking by size from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 city and town population estimates, which put El Paso at 681,723 people.

University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension supply the planting rules; this page only counts them from the station's dates. 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.