When to plant in Metlakatla, AK

Planting dates worked out from Metlakatla's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Apr 27

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 11

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 30

1 year in 10 by Oct 12

Frost-free days

202

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Annette Ap · 10.0 km away · station 33 m, town 1 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 31 – Jun 14	Jul 25
Sweet pepper	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 31 – Jun 14	Jul 30
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 2 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 16
Peas	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 31
Bush beans	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 10
Carrot	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 24
Beet	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 14
Potato	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jul 4
Kale	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 26
Broccoli	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Cucumber	May 3 – May 10	May 31 – Jun 14	Jul 20
Summer squash and zucchini	May 3 – May 10	May 31 – Jun 14	Jul 15
Winter squash	May 3 – May 10	May 31 – Jun 14	Aug 19
Sweet corn	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jul 5
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 14
Basil	Apr 19 – May 3	May 31 – Jun 14	Jul 27

Plan all 65 crops for Metlakatla

Metlakatla's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1941	May 21
1942	Apr 13
1943	Apr 6
1944	Apr 12
1945	Apr 12
1946	Apr 29
1947	Apr 4
1948	Apr 25
1949	May 3
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 22
1952	Apr 21
1953	Apr 13
1954	May 1
1955	Apr 28
1956	Apr 15
1957	Apr 22
1958	Mar 21
1959	Mar 24
1960	Mar 24
1961	Apr 18
1962	Mar 31
1963	Apr 18
1964	May 13
1965	May 13
1966	Apr 13
1967	Apr 23
1968	Apr 16
1969	Mar 23
1970	Apr 12
1971	May 15
1972	Apr 29
1973	Apr 6
1974	Apr 15
1975	Apr 21
1976	Apr 22
1977	Apr 30
1978	Mar 30
1979	Apr 18
1980	Apr 3
1981	Apr 12
1982	Apr 25
1983	Mar 25
1984	Apr 25
1985	May 6
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 25
1988	Apr 12
1989	Apr 16
1990	Apr 3
1991	Apr 1
1992	Apr 12
1993	Apr 11
1994	Mar 19
1995	Apr 18
1996	Apr 2
1997	Apr 6
1998	Apr 12
1999	May 3
2000	Apr 16
2001	Apr 9
2002	May 6
2003	Mar 12
2004	Mar 31
2005	Mar 24
2006	Apr 17
2007	Apr 3
2008	Apr 25
2009	Apr 23
2010	Apr 9
2011	Apr 23
2012	Apr 22
2013	Apr 30
2014	Apr 13
2015	Apr 12
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1941	114
1942	204
1943	202
1944	212
1945	197
1946	198
1947	210
1948	194
1949	166
1950	188
1951	204
1952	207
1953	217
1954	156
1955	176
1956	194
1957	210
1958	235
1959	224
1960	228
1961	185
1962	249
1963	200
1964	164
1965	181
1966	194
1967	191
1968	196
1969	236
1970	207
1971	162
1972	163
1973	207
1974	177
1975	188
1976	178
1977	185
1978	212
1979	201
1980	224
1981	208
1982	196
1983	226
1984	184
1985	172
1986	197
1987	179
1988	196
1989	190
1990	209
1991	197
1992	184
1993	217
1994	226
1995	192
1996	181
1997	186
1998	210
1999	164
2000	206
2001	229
2002	176
2003	232
2004	202
2005	233
2006	194
2007	213
2008	167
2009	202
2010	200
2011	173
2012	178
2013	185
2014	210
2015	217
2016	220
2017	226

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1941	12.5 °C
1942	12.6 °C
1943	10.9 °C
1944	11.8 °C
1945	11.1 °C
1946	11.8 °C
1947	11.8 °C
1948	11.3 °C
1949	10.8 °C
1950	10.9 °C
1951	11.5 °C
1952	10.7 °C
1953	11.6 °C
1954	10.5 °C
1955	9.9 °C
1956	10.9 °C
1957	11.8 °C
1958	13.0 °C
1959	11.0 °C
1960	11.5 °C
1961	12.3 °C
1962	11.8 °C
1963	12.4 °C
1964	10.8 °C
1965	11.1 °C
1966	11.4 °C
1967	12.4 °C
1968	12.2 °C
1969	13.2 °C
1970	11.7 °C
1971	11.1 °C
1972	10.9 °C
1973	10.3 °C
1974	10.9 °C
1975	10.4 °C
1976	11.8 °C
1977	11.9 °C
1978	11.9 °C
1979	11.8 °C
1980	11.8 °C
1981	12.1 °C
1982	11.2 °C
1983	11.9 °C
1984	10.9 °C
1985	10.9 °C
1986	11.4 °C
1987	11.7 °C
1988	11.1 °C
1989	12.8 °C
1990	13.2 °C
1991	11.8 °C
1992	12.1 °C
1993	13.6 °C
1994	12.7 °C
1995	13.2 °C
1996	11.5 °C
1997	12.6 °C
1998	12.1 °C
1999	10.2 °C
2000	11.0 °C
2001	10.8 °C
2002	11.6 °C
2003	12.6 °C
2004	13.6 °C
2005	12.9 °C
2006	11.7 °C
2007	11.7 °C
2008	11.0 °C
2009	12.3 °C
2010	12.5 °C
2011	11.1 °C
2012	11.2 °C
2013	12.7 °C
2014	12.3 °C
2015	13.1 °C
2016	13.6 °C
2017	13.1 °C
2019	13.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1941, Metlakatla's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Annette Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Ketchikan Wrangell Petersburg