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

Frost leaves Lubbock on April 4 and comes back on November 2 when the odds are even, a window of 210 days for tender plants.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one spring in ten still has a freeze on or after April 22, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by October 19. Lubbock's season is 19 days shorter than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, so it ranks 67th for season length.

The numbers belong to Lubbock, NOAA station USW00023042, which sits 7.7 miles north-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Lubbock at an elevation of about 3,250 feet.

Lubbock's last spring frost, by chance

NOAA gives March 17 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, April 4 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and April 22 as the date only one year in ten passes.

Spring dates in Lubbock spread over 36 days from the 90% date to the 10% date, close to the middle of the cities covered here.

When is the first frost in Lubbock?

In Lubbock the first freeze has arrived by October 19 in one fall out of ten, by November 2 in five, and by November 14 in nine.

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

Lubbock's frost-free season

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 210 days and a short one still gives 189 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. Every winter in the record reached freezing at Lubbock, so the dates above describe a real yearly event, not a rare one.

When a hard freeze reaches Lubbock

The two freezes sit close together here. The typical hard freeze reaches Lubbock on November 11, 9 days after the first frost, and ends on March 22, 13 days ahead of the last. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after April 10 happens one spring in ten and one by October 29 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are March 2 and November 26.

Planting dates for Lubbock, counted from the frost dates

Counting from April 4, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on March 7 and lettuce from March 7 to March 14, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until April 18 and beans until April 4 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.

Counting from the late date, April 22, instead of the typical one delays every after-frost crop by 18 days. That is the price of a one-in-ten spring that most years will not need.

Lubbock's first frost leaves room for only 30 of the 34 fall crops, counting back NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days; for the other 4 the last planting day falls before July. The slowest crop that still fits is Florence fennel, which needs 108 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 3.

Worked example: setting out tomatoes in Lubbock

Take tomatoes in Lubbock. The University of New Hampshire Extension rule is to set transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost. From April 4, the typical date, that means April 11 to April 18; from April 22, the late date, it means April 29 to May 6, a delay of 18 days.

To have transplants ready on the first day of the late window, sow seeds six to eight weeks earlier, between March 4 and March 18.

That leaves 166 days against 75 to 85 days for the plants to reach harvest, so even the late schedule fits in an early-frost year with 81 days to spare.

About the Lubbock station

The station is 7.7 miles north-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Lubbock, several miles out, so look at the nearest-station list in the frost dates tool before you rely on it.

Its elevation is about 3,250 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 8 sit higher and 91 lower. In NOAA's file the record is marked S, meaning standard.

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

Of the cities on these pages, Amarillo, TX is closest to Lubbock at 113 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor.

• Amarillo, TX (113 miles, north): the last frost is 9 days later than in Lubbock, and the frost-free season is 15 days shorter than Lubbock's. Its typical dates are April 13 and October 27, with 195 days frost-free.
• Fort Worth, TX, 268 miles to the east: last frost March 5, first frost November 24, 264 days frost-free; its last frost comes 30 days before Lubbock's, and the season runs 54 days longer.
• Oklahoma City, OK, 282 miles to the north-east: last frost April 4, first frost November 2, 213 days frost-free; its last frost falls within a few days of Lubbock's, and the season is about the same length as Lubbock's.

Take these dates further

Start with the spring planting planner for the whole crop list counted from these dates, and the fall planting planner for the last planting days. The frost dates tool shows every level of risk at this station, and the hardiness zone lookup covers winter survival for shrubs and perennials.

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

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 Lubbock on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 272,086 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. 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.