Reno, NV Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Reno gardeners can count on April 28 as the even-odds date for the last spring frost and October 27 as the even-odds date for the first fall frost, which adds up to 182 days without a freeze in a typical year.

Dates at even odds leave half of all years unprotected. The safer pair for Reno is May 19 in spring, which only one year in ten passes, and October 10 in fall, which one year in ten arrives before. Among the 100 cities covered here, whose median season is 229 days, Reno ranks 84th for length and falls 47 days below the middle.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Reno WFO (NOAA USC00266791), 3.2 miles north-east of Reno's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 5,000 feet up.

When is the last frost in Reno?

NOAA gives April 9 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, April 28 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and May 19 as the date only one year in ten passes.

There are 40 days between the early and late dates, a broader band than most cities on these pages show. In Reno the typical date is a weaker promise than it looks.

First fall frost in Reno

In Reno the first freeze has arrived by October 10 in one fall out of ten, by October 27 in five, and by November 10 in nine.

Fall dates in Reno spread over 31 days, about the same as the middle of the 100 cities on these pages.

How long is the frost-free season in Reno?

A little less room than the middle of these pages, so count the days before you choose a variety. The gap between a typical year and a short one is 28 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. Count on 154 days, not 182 days, when a crop has little slack.

NOAA counts these days from its own simulations, so they will not equal the number of days between the two typical dates exactly. Every winter in the record reached freezing at Reno WFO, so the dates above describe a real yearly event, not a rare one.

Hard freeze dates for Reno

Hard freezes are late to arrive in Reno and early to leave: November 8 in fall, 12 days behind the first frost, and April 10 in spring, 18 days ahead of the last. The late 28°F spring date, May 2, is the one that still catches blooms and young transplants one year in ten, and the early fall date, October 23, is when a hard freeze has arrived in one fall out of ten.

What this means for planting in Reno

In Reno the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on April 28: lettuce from March 31 to April 7, cabbage on March 31, seed potatoes from April 14 to April 21, then peppers on May 12 and beans from April 28. 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, May 19, every tender crop moves back 21 days; that buys protection against a spring only one year in ten brings.

Reno's first frost leaves room for only 28 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 6 the last planting day falls before July. Of the crops that fit, broccoli is the slowest: 98 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 4 its last day.

Worked example: setting out tomatoes in Reno

A gardener in Reno who follows University of New Hampshire Extension sets tomato transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost: May 5 to May 12 from the typical date of April 28, or May 26 to June 2 from the late date of May 19, 21 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 31 to April 14 for sowing indoors.

From the last set-out day to the early first frost on October 10 is 130 days. NC State Extension gives 75 to 85 days, and the longer figure still fits with 45 days to spare.

About the Reno WFO station

3.2 miles north-east of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Reno.

NOAA lists it at about 5,000 feet, higher than 95 and lower than 4 of the 100 stations in this set. Its completeness flag is R, which NOAA uses for a representative record.

No elevation is available for Reno in the Census data we saved, so the station's height may or may not match your garden's. Compare nearby stations in the frost dates tool if it does not, and err toward the colder dates.

Reno compared with nearby cities

Of the cities on these pages, Sacramento, CA is closest to Reno at 110 miles, with two more farther out; none is a close neighbor. Note that the Sacramento station stands 4,960 feet lower than Reno's.

• Sacramento, CA lies 110 miles south-west of Reno. Typical last frost January 12, first frost December 16, 341 days between; the last frost is 106 days earlier than in Reno, and the season runs 159 days longer.
• Stockton, CA (134 miles, south-west): its last frost comes 82 days before Reno's, and the frost-free season is 123 days longer than Reno's. Its typical dates are February 5 and December 8, with 305 days frost-free.
• Modesto, CA (146 miles, south-west): its last frost comes 87 days before Reno's, and it has 130 days more without frost. Its typical dates are January 31 and December 5, with 312 days frost-free.

Put the frost dates to work

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 Reno, 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. Reno 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 281,714 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. 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.