Nashville, TN Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

The last spring frost in Nashville, TN comes on April 1 in a typical year, and the first fall frost follows on October 31, leaving a frost-free season of 213 days.

Put April 16 and October 18 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. The median season across the 100 cities on these pages is 229 days; Nashville comes up 16 days short of it, 64th on the list.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Shelby Bottoms Nature (NOAA USC00408238), 3.4 miles east of Nashville's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 400 feet up.

Last spring frost in Nashville

NOAA gives March 16 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, April 1 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and April 16 as the date only one year in ten passes.

Only 31 days separate the earliest and latest of these dates, a tighter run than most of the 100 cities here, so the typical date is a fairly dependable guide in Nashville.

When is the first frost in Nashville?

A first freeze on or before October 18 happens one fall in ten. By October 31 half of years have had one, and by November 13 nine years in ten have.

Fall frost keeps to a tight calendar in Nashville: 26 days from the 10% date to the 90% date, less than in most of the 100 cities here.

Nashville'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. A short year costs just 21 days against a typical one (192 days against 213 days), so a season-length plan for Nashville 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. At Shelby Bottoms Nature a night at or below 32°F turns up in 100% of years, which means these dates apply every winter.

28°F dates in Nashville

Between a light frost and a hard freeze there is little room in Nashville: the typical 28°F dates are November 9 and March 20, just 9 days and 12 days from the 32°F dates. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after April 5 happens one spring in ten and one by October 26 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are March 2 and November 25.

Using Nashville's frost dates in the garden

University of New Hampshire Extension sorts vegetables by how they cope with cold. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost: counting from April 1, cabbage transplants go in on March 4 and lettuce from March 4 to March 11. Tender crops wait until it has passed, with peppers going out on April 15 and beans sown on or after April 1. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

From the late date, April 16, every tender crop moves back 15 days; that buys protection against a spring only one year in ten brings.

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 Nashville only 30 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 4 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. Of the crops that fit, Florence fennel is the slowest: 108 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 2 its last day.

Worked example: a tomato plan for Nashville

A gardener in Nashville who follows University of New Hampshire Extension sets tomato transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost: April 8 to April 15 from the typical date of April 1, or April 23 to April 30 from the late date of April 16, 15 days later.

Indoors, tomato seeds go in six to eight weeks ahead of set-out; from the first day of the late window that is February 26 to March 12.

Between the last set-out day and the early first frost on October 18 lie 171 days. Tomatoes need 75 to 85 days by NC State Extension's count, so the schedule has 86 days of slack even in an early-frost year.

The weather station behind these dates

3.4 miles east of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Nashville.

Its elevation is about 400 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 69 sit higher and 30 lower. In NOAA's file the record is marked R, meaning representative.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Nashville, 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.

Nearby cities and their frost dates

Of the cities on these pages, Huntsville, AL is closest to Nashville at 102 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor.

• Huntsville, AL (102 miles, south): spring frost ends 8 days sooner than in Nashville, and the season runs 16 days longer. Its typical dates are March 24 and November 8, with 229 days frost-free.
• Louisville, KY (151 miles, north-east): the last frost is 5 days later than in Nashville, and the season is about the same length as Nashville's. Its typical dates are April 6 and November 1, with 209 days frost-free.
• Lexington, KY lies 182 miles north-east of Nashville. Typical last frost April 13, first frost October 28, 196 days between; its last frost comes 12 days after Nashville's, and the season runs 17 days shorter.

Next steps for Nashville gardeners

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 Nashville, and the hardiness zone lookup answers what will overwinter.

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

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. Nashville 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 704,963 residents.

The planting dates apply the count rules in University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension to this station's dates, with nothing added. 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.