Oklahoma City, OK Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

In a typical year the final freeze of spring reaches Oklahoma City around April 4, and the first freeze of autumn returns around November 2. NOAA's normals call the frost-free stretch between them 213 days long.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one spring in ten still has a freeze on or after April 20, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by October 21. Oklahoma City's season is 16 days shorter than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, so it ranks 64th for season length.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Oklahoma City Will Rogers AP (NOAA USW00013967), 7.3 miles south-west of Oklahoma City's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 1,300 feet up.

Last spring frost in Oklahoma City

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after April 20 is a one-in-ten spring, after April 4 is a coin toss, and after March 16 is the usual case.

The early and late dates are 35 days apart, about the spread most cities on these pages show.

Oklahoma City's first fall frost, by chance

Expect the first freeze of fall by November 2 in a typical year. One year in ten brings it by October 21, and nine in ten have had it by November 17.

Just 27 days separate the early and late dates, tighter than most cities on these pages.

Oklahoma City's frost-free season

The season is somewhat shorter than the middle of these pages, so a seed packet's days to maturity deserve a second look. The record runs from 191 days in a short year through 213 days in a typical one to 235 days in a long one, a swing of 22 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. At Oklahoma City Will Rogers AP a night at or below 32°F turns up in 100% of years, which means these dates apply every winter.

Hard freeze dates for Oklahoma City

Hard freezes trail the light ones by 9 days in fall (November 11 against November 2) and by 14 days in spring (March 21 against April 4). The late 28°F spring date, April 7, is the one that still catches blooms and young transplants one year in ten, and the early fall date, October 29, is when a hard freeze has arrived in one fall out of ten.

Using Oklahoma City's frost dates in the garden

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 20, instead of the typical one delays every after-frost crop by 16 days. That is the price of a one-in-ten spring that most years will not need.

Oklahoma City'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 5.

Worked example: a tomato plan for Oklahoma City

Suppose you want tomatoes in Oklahoma City. University of New Hampshire Extension says to set transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost. Counting from the typical date, April 4, the window runs from April 11 to April 18. Counting from the late date, April 20, it moves to April 27 through May 4, which is 16 days later.

Seeds start six to eight weeks before the set-out day, so counting back from the first day of the late window gives March 2 to March 16 for sowing indoors.

That leaves 170 days against 75 to 85 days for the plants to reach harvest, so even the late schedule fits in an early-frost year with 85 days to spare.

The weather station behind these dates

The station lies 7.3 miles south-west of Oklahoma City's internal point, farther than most on these pages, so treat its dates as a regional guide.

At about 1,300 feet, it ranks above 77 and below 22 of the 100 stations used for these pages. Its completeness flag is S, which NOAA uses for a standard record.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Oklahoma City, 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

The nearest city on these pages is Tulsa, OK, 101 miles away, and the other two below are farther out, so these are regional comparisons, not neighbors. The Tulsa station sits 650 feet lower than the Oklahoma City one, an elevation difference to keep in mind when you compare the two sets of dates.

• Tulsa, OK, 101 miles to the north-east: last frost March 31, first frost November 4, 220 days frost-free; its last frost comes 4 days before Oklahoma City's, and the season is within about a week of Oklahoma City's.
• Wichita, KS lies 154 miles north of Oklahoma City. Typical last frost April 11, first frost October 29, 199 days between; the last frost is 7 days later than in Oklahoma City, and the frost-free season is 14 days shorter than Oklahoma City's.
• McKinney, TX (164 miles, south): its last frost comes 18 days before Oklahoma City's, and the season runs 28 days longer. Its typical dates are March 17 and November 15, with 241 days frost-free.

Take these dates further

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 Oklahoma City, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

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

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 Oklahoma City at 712,919 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. Our methodology describes the tests behind every number.

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.