Houston, TX Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves Houston on February 2 and comes back on December 25 when the odds are even, a window of 327 days for tender plants.

Because half of all years do worse than the typical date, the dates that matter for tender plants are the late spring date, March 5, and the early fall date, November 27, each of which one year in ten fails to beat. Against a median of 229 days for the 100 cities on these pages, Houston has a season 98 days longer, 14th on the list.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Houston-Port (NOAA USC00414326), 7.1 miles south-east of Houston's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 20 feet up.

Houston's last spring frost, by chance

Frost is still possible on December 31 in nine springs out of ten and on February 2 in five; only one spring in ten sees a freeze as late as March 5.

The earliest and latest of these dates are 64 days apart, wider than for most of the 100 cities here. A freeze can still come 31 days after the typical date in Houston, which is why the late date matters more here than in most places.

When is the first frost in Houston?

In Houston the first freeze has arrived by November 27 in one fall out of ten, by December 25 in five, and by January 21 in nine.

55 days separate the early and late fall dates, a broad band compared with most cities here, so a fall crop in Houston should be planned against the early date, not the typical one.

Houston's frost-free season

Houston has far more frost-free days than the middle of these pages, and slow crops benefit most, as the planting dates below show. The gap between a typical year and a short one is 42 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. Count on 285 days, not 327 days, when a crop has little slack.

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. Nearly every winter reaches freezing at Houston-Port: 90.2% of years record a night at or below 32°F, and the other 9.8% do not.

28°F dates in Houston

Between a light frost and a hard freeze there is little room in Houston: the typical 28°F dates are January 5 and January 23, just 11 days and 10 days from the 32°F dates. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after February 25, and one fall in ten sees the first by December 8.

Planting dates for Houston, counted from the frost dates

Counting from February 2, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on January 5 and lettuce from January 5 to January 12, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until February 16 and beans until February 2 or later. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

31 days lie between the typical and late dates in Houston, enough to decide whether you plant tender crops early with a cover ready or wait for a safer spring.

In Houston the fall count works for every crop in the planner: NC State Extension's days to harvest, plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days, still leaves a last planting day in July or later for all 34. The slowest crop that still fits is parsnips, which needs 148 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 2.

Worked example: planting broccoli for fall in Houston

Take fall broccoli in Houston. NC State Extension lists up to 80 days from transplant to harvest, and University of Georgia Extension adds a harvest allowance of 18 days, so the plants need 98 days before the first frost. Counting back from the typical first frost, December 25, the last planting day is September 18. Counting back from the early date, November 27, it is August 21.

The two answers are 28 days apart, a wide enough gap that the early date is the safer one to follow in Houston.

In spring the same family goes in earlier: counting from February 2, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on January 5, weeks ahead of the last frost.

About the Houston-Port station

The station is 7.1 miles south-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Houston, several miles out, so look at the nearest-station list in the frost dates tool before you rely on it.

Its elevation is about 20 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 94 sit higher and 5 lower. In NOAA's file the record is marked R, meaning representative.

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

Of the cities on these pages, Austin, TX is closest to Houston at 146 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor. Elevation differs: the station for Austin is 650 feet above the one for Houston, which is worth remembering when you compare them.

• Austin, TX (146 miles, west): its last frost comes 18 days after Houston's, and the season runs 36 days shorter. Its typical dates are February 20 and December 3, with 291 days frost-free.
• San Antonio, TX (190 miles, west): spring frost lingers 23 days longer than in Houston, and the frost-free season is 50 days shorter than Houston's. Its typical dates are February 25 and November 28, with 277 days frost-free.
• Grand Prairie, TX, 222 miles to the north-west: last frost March 20, first frost November 13, 236 days frost-free; the last frost is 46 days later than in Houston, and the season runs 91 days shorter.

Put the frost dates to work

Open the frost dates tool with this station already chosen to see the whole ladder of probability dates, or try the nearby stations in the same list. The spring planting planner and the fall planting planner turn the same dates into a full crop list, and the hardiness zone lookup tells you which perennials will survive the winter.

Every city covered is on the city frost dates index, sorted 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

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 Houston on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 2,390,125 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. Our methodology describes the tests behind every number.

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.