Las Vegas, NV Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Las Vegas gardeners can count on January 24 as the even-odds date for the last spring frost and December 10 as the even-odds date for the first fall frost, which adds up to 323 days without a freeze in a typical year.

Dates at even odds leave half of all years unprotected. The safer pair for Las Vegas is February 19 in spring, which only one year in ten passes, and November 24 in fall, which one year in ten arrives before. Las Vegas's season is 94 days longer than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, which puts it 15th for season length.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Las Vegas Air Terminal (NOAA USW00053123), 4.1 miles east of Las Vegas's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 2,200 feet up.

Las Vegas's last spring frost, by chance

One year in ten has a freeze on or after February 19. In nine years out of ten there is still a freeze on or after December 27, and half of years see one on or after January 24.

There are 54 days between the early and late dates, a broader band than most cities on these pages show. In Las Vegas the typical date is a weaker promise than it looks.

When is the first frost in Las Vegas?

Expect the first freeze of fall by December 10 in a typical year. One year in ten brings it by November 24, and nine in ten have had it by December 29.

The early and late fall dates are 35 days apart, a typical spread for the cities covered here.

The growing season in Las Vegas

With a season well beyond the middle of these pages, Las Vegas has days to spare for slow crops, as the planting dates below show. A typical year gives 323 days, but nine years in ten still give at least 289 days; 34 days separate the two, a larger swing than most cities here show, so a crop that needs the full typical season is a gamble in Las Vegas.

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. Nearly every winter reaches freezing at Las Vegas Air Terminal: 96.7% of years record a night at or below 32°F, and the other 3.3% do not.

Hard freeze dates for Las Vegas

A wide gap separates 32°F from 28°F here: the typical hard freeze arrives 15 days after the first frost in fall (December 25) and leaves 22 days before the last in spring (January 2). Frost-tolerant crops get a long extension at both ends. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after February 3 happens one spring in ten and one by December 4 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are December 10 and January 22.

What this means for planting in Las Vegas

University of New Hampshire Extension sorts vegetables by how they cope with cold. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost: counting from January 24, cabbage transplants go in on December 27 and lettuce from December 27 to January 3. Tender crops wait until it has passed, with peppers going out on February 7 and beans sown on or after January 24. The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet gives peas no frost count at all; sow them as soon as the soil thaws.

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

Of the 34 crops in the fall planner, 33 still have a July-or-later last planting day in Las Vegas once NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days are counted back from frost. The other 1 do not. The slowest crop that still fits is bulb onions, at 138 days, and it has to be planted by July 9 to beat the early date.

Worked example: fall broccoli in Las Vegas

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 Las Vegas the last planting day is September 3 against the typical first frost on December 10, and August 18 against the early date on November 24.

That is 16 days between the typical and the early schedule; broccoli planted on the later of them risks a frost before harvest in one fall out of ten.

The same crop family has a spring clock too. University of New Hampshire Extension sets cabbage out ahead of the last frost, and from January 24 in Las Vegas that means on December 27.

Where Las Vegas's numbers are measured

The nearest usable station stands 4.1 miles east of Las Vegas's internal point, near the city but not in it.

Its elevation is about 2,200 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 12 sit higher and 87 lower. NOAA flags this station's record as representative, the code R, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Las Vegas, 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 Las Vegas's frost dates compare

North Las Vegas, NV is a short hop at 10 miles; the other two cities below are farther out, so the list moves from local to regional.

• North Las Vegas, NV lies 10 miles east of Las Vegas. Typical last frost February 1, first frost December 8, 311 days between; spring frost lingers 8 days longer than in Las Vegas, and the season runs 12 days shorter.
• Henderson, NV lies 20 miles south-east of Las Vegas. Typical last frost January 20, first frost December 15, 333 days between; spring frost ends 4 days sooner than in Las Vegas, and the frost-free season is 10 days longer than Las Vegas's.
• San Bernardino, CA lies 185 miles south-west of Las Vegas. Typical last frost January 27, first frost December 19, 329 days between; its last frost is nearly the same as Las Vegas's, and the season is about the same length as Las Vegas's.

Put the frost dates to work

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 Las Vegas, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

All the cities on these pages are listed by state on the city frost dates index.

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 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 Las Vegas at 678,922 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. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

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.