Raleigh, NC Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

In a typical year the final freeze of spring reaches Raleigh around March 28, and the first freeze of autumn returns around November 8. NOAA's normals call the frost-free stretch between them 229 days long.

Put April 12 and October 28 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. Raleigh lands within a couple of weeks of the middle of the 100 cities covered here, whose median season is 229 days.

These dates come from the NOAA weather station Raleigh State Univ (ID USC00317079), 4.3 miles south-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Raleigh, at about 400 feet above sea level.

Raleigh's last spring frost, by chance

Frost is still possible on March 8 in nine springs out of ten and on March 28 in five; only one spring in ten sees a freeze as late as April 12.

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

First fall frost in Raleigh

NOAA's early fall date for Raleigh is October 28, its even-odds date is November 8 and its late date is November 27; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

From the earliest first freeze to the latest is 30 days, close to the middle of the pack.

Raleigh's frost-free season

That is close to the middle of the cities covered here. There is little difference between a typical season (229 days) and a short one (208 days) in Raleigh: 21 days, less than in most of the cities covered here.

NOAA counts these days from its own simulations, so they will not equal the number of days between the two typical dates exactly. At Raleigh State Univ a night at or below 32°F turns up in 100% of years, which means these dates apply every winter.

28°F dates in Raleigh

A wide gap separates 32°F from 28°F here: the typical hard freeze arrives 15 days after the first frost in fall (November 23) and leaves 14 days before the last in spring (March 14). Frost-tolerant crops get a long extension at both ends. The late 28°F spring date, March 31, is the one that still catches blooms and young transplants one year in ten, and the early fall date, November 6, is when a hard freeze has arrived in one fall out of ten.

Using Raleigh's frost dates in the garden

Counting from March 28, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on February 28 and lettuce from February 28 to March 7, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until April 11 and beans until March 28 or later. The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet gives peas no frost count at all; sow them as soon as the soil thaws.

The late date comes 15 days after the typical one; choose it for plants you cannot cover.

Raleigh's first frost leaves room for only 32 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 2 the last planting day falls before July. The slowest crop that still fits is collard greens, at 118 days, and it has to be planted by July 2 to beat the early date.

Worked example: the last day for fall broccoli in Raleigh

Take fall broccoli in Raleigh. 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, November 8, the last planting day is August 2. Counting back from the early date, October 28, it is July 22.

Typical and early differ by just 11 days here, so a gardener can plant on the later of them without taking much more risk.

Spring is the other end of the same arithmetic: University of New Hampshire Extension sets cabbage-family transplants out two to four weeks before the last frost, which from March 28 puts cabbage out on February 28.

Where Raleigh's numbers are measured

The station is 4.3 miles south-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Raleigh, near enough to be the city's reference record, though not in the same yard.

Its elevation is about 400 feet. Of the 100 stations behind these pages, 70 sit higher and 28 lower. Its completeness flag is S, which NOAA uses for a standard record.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Raleigh, 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

Three cities on these pages lie within a hundred miles of Raleigh, the nearest Durham, NC at 18 miles, which makes the comparison below a close one.

• Durham, NC lies 18 miles north-west of Raleigh. Typical last frost April 2, first frost November 4, 217 days between; its last frost comes 5 days after Raleigh's, and the frost-free season is 12 days shorter than Raleigh's.
• Fayetteville, NC lies 55 miles south of Raleigh. Typical last frost March 30, first frost November 10, 227 days between; its last frost is nearly the same as Raleigh's, and frost-free days differ from Raleigh's by less than a week.
• Greensboro, NC lies 69 miles west of Raleigh. Typical last frost April 1, first frost November 4, 217 days between; its last frost comes 4 days after Raleigh's, and the frost-free season is 12 days shorter than Raleigh's.

Take these dates further

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.

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

For North Carolina, the state planting pages copy the Extension calendar (NC State Extension) crop by crop and region by region: tomatoes in North Carolina, peppers in North Carolina, cucumbers in North Carolina, summer squash in North Carolina, green beans in North Carolina. Set those windows beside the frost dates above.

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. Raleigh 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 499,825 residents.

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.

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