Tulsa, OK Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves Tulsa on March 31 and comes back on November 4 when the odds are even, a window of 220 days for tender plants.

Put April 15 and October 20 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. Tulsa 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 Tulsa International AP (ID USW00013968), 5.0 miles north of the Census Bureau's internal point for Tulsa, at about 650 feet above sea level.

Tulsa's last spring frost, by chance

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after April 15 is a one-in-ten spring, after March 31 is a coin toss, and after March 11 is the usual case.

From the earliest date to the latest is 35 days, a middling band against the other 100 cities.

First fall frost in Tulsa

In Tulsa the first freeze has arrived by October 20 in one fall out of ten, by November 4 in five, and by November 19 in nine.

Fall dates in Tulsa spread over 30 days, about the same as the middle of the 100 cities on these pages.

Tulsa's frost-free season

That is close to the middle of the cities covered here. Plan on 198 days in a short year, 220 days in a typical one, and as many as 243 days in a long one.

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. Every winter in the record reached freezing at Tulsa International AP, so the dates above describe a real yearly event, not a rare one.

Hard freeze dates for Tulsa

Hard freezes trail the light ones by 9 days in fall (November 13 against November 4) and by 14 days in spring (March 17 against March 31). At the edges, a 28°F night on or after April 5 happens one spring in ten and one by October 31 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are February 28 and December 1.

What this means for planting in Tulsa

The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet times each crop from the last frost. For Tulsa's typical date, March 31, that means cabbage on March 3, lettuce from March 3 to March 10, seed potatoes from March 17 to March 24, and, once the frost is behind you, peppers on April 14 and beans on or after March 31. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

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

Of the 34 crops in the fall planner, 30 still have a July-or-later last planting day in Tulsa once NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days are counted back from frost. The other 4 do not. 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 4.

Worked example: the last day for fall broccoli in Tulsa

Work through broccoli transplants for fall in Tulsa. The longest days to harvest NC State Extension gives is 80 days, plus University of Georgia Extension's allowance of 18 days, for 98 days in all. Subtract that from the typical first frost on November 4 and the last day to plant is July 29; subtract it from the early date on October 20 and it is July 14.

The two answers are 15 days apart, a wide enough gap that the early date is the safer one to follow in Tulsa.

In spring the same family goes in earlier: counting from March 31, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on March 3, weeks ahead of the last frost.

The weather station behind these dates

5.0 miles north of the city's internal point, the station is close but not on top of Tulsa.

NOAA lists it at about 650 feet, higher than 49 and lower than 50 of the 100 stations in this set. Its completeness flag is S, which NOAA uses for a standard record.

No elevation is available for Tulsa 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.

Tulsa compared with nearby cities

Here is how Tulsa, with a last frost on March 31 and a first frost on November 4, compares with the three nearest cities on these pages, the closest being Oklahoma City, OK at 101 miles. Note that the Oklahoma City station stands 650 feet higher than Tulsa's.

• Oklahoma City, OK lies 101 miles south-west of Tulsa. Typical last frost April 4, first frost November 2, 213 days between; spring frost lingers 4 days longer than in Tulsa, and frost-free days differ from Tulsa's by less than a week.
• Wichita, KS (134 miles, north-west): the last frost is 11 days later than in Tulsa, and the season runs 21 days shorter. Its typical dates are April 11 and October 29, with 199 days frost-free.
• Overland Park, KS (202 miles, north): spring frost lingers 10 days longer than in Tulsa, and the season runs 18 days shorter. Its typical dates are April 10 and October 29, with 202 days frost-free.

Put the frost dates to work

Start with the spring planting planner for the whole crop list counted from these dates, and the fall planting planner for the last planting days. The frost dates tool shows every level of risk at this station, and the hardiness zone lookup covers winter survival for shrubs and perennials.

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. 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 Tulsa at 415,154 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.

Frost dates are long-term odds, not a forecast. Before you plant, check the local forecast for the coming week, and keep row cover or old sheets handy for the nights the odds get wrong.