Orlando, FL Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

In Orlando, FL, frost is a winter-only event. With even odds the first freeze of the cold season has arrived by January 10, after the new year, and the last has come by January 25; NOAA counts 355 days of frost-free days in a typical year.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one winter in ten still has a freeze on or after February 26, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by December 18. Orlando's season is 126 days longer than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, which puts it 2nd for season length.

NOAA measured them at Orlando International AP (station USW00012815), about 4.6 miles west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Orlando and about 90 feet above sea level.

Orlando's last spring frost, by chance

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after February 26 is a one-in-ten winter, after January 25 is a coin toss, and after December 30 is the usual case.

There are 58 days between the early and late dates, a broader band than most cities on these pages show. In Orlando the typical date is a weaker promise than it looks.

When is the first frost in Orlando?

A first freeze on or before December 18 happens one fall in ten. By January 10 half of years have had one, and by February 10 nine years in ten have.

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

How long is the frost-free season in Orlando?

With a season well beyond the middle of these pages, Orlando has days to spare for slow crops, as the planting dates below show. Season length swings more here than in most of the 100 cities: 355 days in a typical year, 317 days in a short one, a difference of 38 days.

Read these season figures as NOAA's own counts of freeze-free days; with the first freeze arriving after the new year, they are not the gap between two dates in one calendar year. Frost is not guaranteed: 60.7% of years reach 32°F at Orlando International AP, and the other 39.3% never do, so read the dates as when a frost can happen, not as an appointment.

28°F dates in Orlando

A hard freeze follows the first frost quickly in Orlando: the typical 28°F night arrives on January 13 in fall, only 3 days after the first 32°F one on January 10, and in spring the last one comes on January 16, 9 days before the last 32°F frost. Tender plants get little warning here. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after February 9, and one fall in ten sees the first by December 24.

Planting dates for Orlando, counted from the frost dates

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 25, cabbage transplants go in on December 28 and lettuce from December 28 to January 4. Tender crops wait until it has passed, with peppers going out on February 8 and beans sown on or after January 25. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

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

In Orlando 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 23.

Worked example: planting broccoli for fall in Orlando

Take fall broccoli in Orlando. 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, January 10, the last planting day is October 4. Counting back from the early date, December 18, it is September 11.

23 days separate the two last days, enough that in Orlando the earlier one is worth following.

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 25 in Orlando that means on December 28.

About the Orlando International AP station

4.6 miles west of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Orlando.

Its elevation is about 90 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 80 sit higher and 19 lower. NOAA flags this station's record as standard, the code S, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Orlando, 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.

Orlando compared with nearby cities

Here is how Orlando, with a last frost on January 25 and a first frost on January 10, compares with the three nearest cities on these pages, the closest being Jacksonville, FL at 135 miles.

• Jacksonville, FL (135 miles, north): spring frost lingers 7 days longer than in Orlando, and it has 25 days less without frost. Its typical dates are February 1 and January 5, with 330 days frost-free.
• Tallahassee, FL, 229 miles to the north-west: last frost March 11, first frost November 21, 255 days frost-free; the last frost is 45 days later than in Orlando, and the season runs 100 days shorter.
• Augusta, GA (346 miles, north): spring frost lingers 57 days longer than in Orlando, and the frost-free season is 123 days shorter than Orlando's. Its typical dates are March 23 and November 9, with 232 days frost-free.

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.

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

Where these numbers come from

Every frost and freeze date comes from the station's entry in NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11), with no adjustment, and NOAA's documentation explains what each probability means. The Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Orlando on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 334,854 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. The methodology page explains how each figure is checked.

NOAA's dates say how often frost has come, not when it will. Check the forecast before planting and keep a cover on hand.