When to plant in Seward, AK

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

Safe to plant out

May 21

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 5

1 year in 10 by Sep 26

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Seward Ap · 3.1 km away · station 4 m, town 28 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Seward plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 27 – May 11	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Aug 16
Sweet pepper	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Aug 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 28 – Apr 4	May 2 – May 16	Jun 11
Peas	—	May 2 – May 30	Jun 26
Bush beans	—	Jun 12 – Jul 3	Aug 1
Carrot	—	May 16 – Jun 27	Jul 15
Beet	—	May 16 – Jun 27	Jul 5
Potato	—	May 16 – Jun 6	Jul 25
Kale	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jun 21
Broccoli	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
Cucumber	May 25 – Jun 1	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Aug 11
Summer squash and zucchini	May 25 – Jun 1	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Aug 6
Winter squash Season likely too short	May 25 – Jun 1	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Sep 10
Sweet corn	—	Jun 12 – Jul 3	Aug 11
Onion (from sets)	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 31
Garlic	—	Sep 1 – Sep 29 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	May 2 – May 30	Jun 9
Basil	May 11 – May 25	Jun 22 – Jul 6	Aug 18

Plan all 65 crops for Seward

Seward'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
1908	May 17
1909	May 13
1910	May 11
1911	Jun 9
1912	Jun 5
1913	May 8
1914	May 23
1915	Apr 30
1916	May 8
1917	Jul 10
1918	May 23
1919	May 22
1920	May 24
1921	May 14
1922	Jun 10
1923	May 5
1924	May 4
1930	May 7
1931	May 27
1932	May 20
1933	Jun 1
1934	May 28
1935	May 11
1936	May 9
1937	May 28
1938	May 26
1939	May 9
1940	May 24
1941	May 2
1942	May 8
1943	May 29
1944	Jun 4
1945	May 15
1946	May 23
1947	May 18
1948	May 9
1950	Apr 26
1951	May 5
1952	May 14
1953	May 4
1954	Apr 27
1955	May 10
1956	Apr 21
1957	May 2
1958	May 9
1959	May 10
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 1
1962	May 7
1963	Apr 30
1964	May 16
1965	May 14
1966	May 10
1967	May 7
1968	May 3
1969	Apr 24
1970	May 5
1971	May 15
1972	May 1
1973	May 19
1974	Apr 26
1975	May 18
1976	May 15
1977	May 20
1978	May 11
1979	May 5
1980	May 9
1981	Apr 29
1982	May 15
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 30
1985	May 10
1986	Apr 25
1987	Apr 28
1988	May 2
1989	Apr 13
1990	Apr 11
1991	May 13
1992	May 1
1993	Apr 21
1994	Apr 19
1995	Apr 7
1996	Apr 13
1998	May 11
1999	May 8
2000	Apr 26
2001	May 11
2002	May 10
2003	Apr 15
2004	Apr 30
2005	May 7
2006	May 18
2007	May 22
2008	Apr 29
2009	May 19
2010	May 17
2011	May 24
2012	May 17
2013	May 21
2014	Apr 30
2015	May 18
2016	May 2
2017	May 26
2018	May 13
2019	Apr 28
2020	Apr 30
2021	May 7
2022	May 6
2023	May 31
2024	May 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1908	130
1909	131
1910	145
1911	118
1912	110
1913	152
1914	117
1915	161
1916	140
1917	64
1918	120
1919	135
1920	122
1921	80
1922	70
1923	144
1924	156
1930	133
1931	129
1932	128
1933	111
1934	106
1935	149
1936	125
1937	156
1939	148
1940	132
1941	158
1942	130
1943	102
1944	89
1945	153
1946	124
1947	124
1948	145
1950	169
1951	154
1952	154
1953	150
1954	159
1955	148
1956	155
1957	150
1958	138
1959	149
1960	157
1961	160
1962	158
1963	162
1964	153
1965	147
1966	148
1967	150
1968	142
1969	179
1970	127
1971	142
1972	143
1973	139
1974	155
1975	155
1976	138
1977	131
1978	144
1979	172
1980	151
1981	161
1982	144
1983	156
1984	162
1985	145
1986	184
1987	170
1988	165
1989	182
1990	164
1991	151
1992	143
1993	178
1994	161
1995	186
1996	182
1998	142
1999	154
2000	158
2001	152
2002	140
2003	184
2004	169
2005	159
2006	135
2007	138
2008	152
2009	127
2010	132
2011	128
2012	134
2013	136
2014	153
2015	122
2016	151
2017	127
2019	167
2020	165
2021	143
2022	159
2023	125
2024	124

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1908	8.5 °C
1909	8.7 °C
1910	8.7 °C
1911	8.5 °C
1912	8.8 °C
1913	9.1 °C
1914	9.8 °C
1915	11.5 °C
1916	9.2 °C
1917	9.0 °C
1918	9.4 °C
1919	9.5 °C
1920	8.0 °C
1922	8.5 °C
1923	10.1 °C
1924	8.9 °C
1930	9.1 °C
1931	9.5 °C
1932	8.5 °C
1933	8.2 °C
1934	8.3 °C
1935	9.5 °C
1936	10.7 °C
1937	9.3 °C
1939	8.8 °C
1940	9.9 °C
1941	10.2 °C
1942	10.5 °C
1943	9.6 °C
1944	9.7 °C
1945	9.4 °C
1946	9.5 °C
1947	9.8 °C
1948	9.5 °C
1950	9.3 °C
1951	9.7 °C
1952	9.3 °C
1953	10.1 °C
1954	9.8 °C
1955	8.6 °C
1956	8.7 °C
1957	11.1 °C
1958	9.8 °C
1959	10.3 °C
1960	9.8 °C
1961	9.8 °C
1962	9.8 °C
1963	10.4 °C
1964	9.7 °C
1965	9.3 °C
1966	9.6 °C
1967	10.3 °C
1968	10.6 °C
1969	10.1 °C
1970	8.9 °C
1971	8.3 °C
1972	8.4 °C
1973	8.7 °C
1974	10.2 °C
1975	8.7 °C
1976	9.0 °C
1977	9.5 °C
1978	9.4 °C
1980	9.2 °C
1981	9.7 °C
1982	8.7 °C
1983	9.8 °C
1984	10.2 °C
1985	8.7 °C
1986	9.3 °C
1987	9.9 °C
1988	9.6 °C
1989	10.3 °C
1990	10.6 °C
1991	9.0 °C
1992	9.1 °C
1993	10.9 °C
1994	9.9 °C
1996	10.2 °C
1998	9.2 °C
1999	9.9 °C
2000	10.0 °C
2001	10.1 °C
2002	9.6 °C
2003	10.1 °C
2004	11.0 °C
2005	11.2 °C
2006	9.6 °C
2007	9.8 °C
2008	8.4 °C
2009	9.2 °C
2010	9.3 °C
2011	9.0 °C
2012	8.8 °C
2013	9.8 °C
2014	10.5 °C
2015	10.8 °C
2016	11.5 °C
2017	9.6 °C
2018	10.2 °C
2019	11.3 °C
2020	10.7 °C
2021	9.4 °C
2022	10.2 °C
2023	9.0 °C
2024	8.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1908, Seward's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Bear Creek Funny River Sterling Girdwood Anchorage Elmendorf Air Force Base