When to plant in Utqiagvik, AK

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

Safe to plant out

Jul 14

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jul 8

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Jul 29

1 year in 10 by Jul 16

Frost-free days

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Barrow Ap · 1.8 km away · station 8 m, town 3 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Utqiagvik plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato Summers too cool	—	—	—
Sweet pepper Summers too cool	—	—	—
Lettuce (leaf) Summers too cool	—	—	—
Peas Summers too cool	—	—	—
Bush beans Summers too cool	—	—	—
Carrot Summers too cool	—	—	—
Beet Summers too cool	—	—	—
Potato Summers too cool	—	—	—
Kale Summers too cool	—	—	—
Broccoli Summers too cool	—	—	—
Cucumber Summers too cool	—	—	—
Summer squash and zucchini Summers too cool	—	—	—
Winter squash Summers too cool	—	—	—
Sweet corn Summers too cool	—	—	—
Onion (from sets) Summers too cool	—	—	—
Garlic Summers too cool	—	—	—
Spinach Summers too cool	—	—	—
Basil Summers too cool	—	—	—

Plan all 65 crops for Utqiagvik

Utqiagvik'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
1902	Jul 14
1903	Jul 14
1921	Jul 14
1922	Jul 14
1923	Jul 14
1924	Jul 13
1925	Jul 12
1926	Jul 7
1927	Jul 4
1928	Jul 14
1930	Jul 4
1931	Jul 10
1932	Jul 14
1933	Jul 14
1934	Jul 14
1935	Jul 11
1936	Jul 11
1937	Jul 14
1938	Jul 3
1939	Jul 7
1940	Jul 13
1941	Jul 13
1942	Jul 14
1943	Jul 14
1944	Jul 14
1945	Jul 14
1946	Jul 7
1947	Jul 10
1948	Jul 4
1949	Jul 13
1950	Jul 14
1951	Jul 14
1952	Jul 2
1953	Jul 14
1954	Jul 13
1955	Jul 14
1956	Jul 13
1957	Jul 8
1958	Jul 13
1959	Jul 12
1960	Jul 14
1961	Jul 14
1962	Jul 14
1963	Jul 14
1964	Jul 14
1965	Jul 14
1966	Jul 5
1967	Jul 10
1968	Jul 3
1969	Jul 12
1970	Jul 9
1971	Jul 11
1972	Jul 14
1973	Jul 14
1974	Jul 13
1975	Jul 9
1976	Jul 13
1977	Jul 6
1978	Jul 14
1979	Jul 12
1980	Jul 14
1981	Jul 14
1982	Jul 14
1983	Jul 11
1984	Jul 14
1985	Jul 14
1986	Jul 11
1987	Jul 14
1988	Jul 12
1989	Jul 8
1990	Jul 9
1991	Jul 13
1992	Jul 14
1993	Jun 26
1994	Jul 14
1995	Jul 13
1996	Jul 11
1997	Jul 12
1998	Jun 27
1999	Jul 6
2000	Jul 14
2001	Jul 14
2002	Jul 13
2003	Jul 14
2004	Jul 12
2005	Jul 10
2006	Jul 14
2007	Jul 12
2008	Jul 6
2009	Jun 30
2010	Jul 14
2011	Jul 9
2012	Jul 2
2013	Jul 10
2014	Jul 14
2015	Jun 22
2016	Jun 29
2017	Jul 1
2018	Jul 10
2019	Jun 25
2020	Jul 11
2021	Jul 14
2022	Jul 14
2023	Jun 23
2024	Jul 8

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	13
1903	0
1921	0
1922	2
1923	47
1924	3
1925	4
1926	8
1927	15
1928	4
1930	10
1931	5
1932	5
1933	1
1934	0
1935	7
1936	3
1937	11
1938	22
1939	11
1940	5
1941	2
1942	1
1943	1
1944	0
1945	0
1946	9
1947	14
1948	14
1949	3
1950	3
1951	49
1952	12
1953	0
1954	5
1955	2
1956	1
1957	9
1958	4
1959	2
1960	0
1961	1
1962	0
1963	0
1964	3
1965	0
1966	11
1967	9
1968	47
1969	3
1970	5
1971	4
1972	0
1973	0
1974	5
1975	10
1976	1
1977	8
1978	0
1979	3
1980	4
1981	0
1982	0
1983	5
1984	1
1985	0
1986	10
1987	0
1988	4
1989	10
1990	15
1991	3
1992	0
1993	27
1994	2
1995	5
1996	5
1997	14
1998	33
1999	16
2000	10
2001	6
2002	10
2003	0
2004	18
2005	8
2006	1
2007	25
2008	10
2009	68
2010	57
2011	61
2012	14
2013	18
2014	0
2015	31
2016	17
2017	24
2018	21
2019	85
2020	8
2021	35
2022	14
2023	81
2024	23

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1902	-1.8 °C
1903	-3.0 °C
1921	-2.8 °C
1922	-4.7 °C
1925	-1.6 °C
1926	-1.7 °C
1927	-2.3 °C
1928	-1.7 °C
1929	-1.8 °C
1930	-1.9 °C
1931	-3.1 °C
1932	-2.5 °C
1933	-3.5 °C
1934	-3.6 °C
1935	-3.4 °C
1936	-2.5 °C
1937	-2.6 °C
1938	-2.4 °C
1939	-1.7 °C
1940	-1.2 °C
1941	-3.1 °C
1942	-2.1 °C
1943	-2.0 °C
1944	-2.9 °C
1945	-3.8 °C
1946	-3.9 °C
1947	-3.2 °C
1948	-3.8 °C
1949	-3.7 °C
1950	-2.3 °C
1951	-1.4 °C
1952	-3.8 °C
1953	-2.9 °C
1954	-1.6 °C
1955	-4.4 °C
1956	-3.5 °C
1957	-2.0 °C
1958	-2.2 °C
1959	-3.4 °C
1960	-4.2 °C
1961	-3.3 °C
1962	-2.7 °C
1963	-2.3 °C
1964	-4.9 °C
1965	-3.3 °C
1966	-3.9 °C
1967	-2.9 °C
1968	-2.3 °C
1969	-3.7 °C
1970	-4.1 °C
1971	-3.5 °C
1972	-2.8 °C
1973	-2.6 °C
1974	-3.4 °C
1975	-4.4 °C
1976	-3.2 °C
1977	-2.4 °C
1978	-2.9 °C
1979	-1.3 °C
1980	-4.3 °C
1981	-3.1 °C
1982	-3.5 °C
1983	-3.8 °C
1984	-3.2 °C
1985	-3.1 °C
1986	-2.4 °C
1987	-3.3 °C
1988	-3.1 °C
1989	-0.4 °C
1990	-0.8 °C
1991	-1.8 °C
1992	-2.8 °C
1993	-1.1 °C
1994	-2.6 °C
1995	-0.8 °C
1996	-2.0 °C
1997	-1.5 °C
1998	0.5 °C
1999	-1.6 °C
2000	-3.1 °C
2001	-3.5 °C
2002	-1.8 °C
2003	-1.8 °C
2004	-0.8 °C
2005	-1.6 °C
2006	-2.1 °C
2007	-0.4 °C
2008	-1.2 °C
2009	-0.7 °C
2010	-0.7 °C
2011	-1.3 °C
2012	-0.4 °C
2013	-1.2 °C
2014	-1.7 °C
2015	-0.6 °C
2016	0.3 °C
2017	-0.4 °C
2018	-1.4 °C
2019	1.2 °C
2020	-0.8 °C
2021	-1.1 °C
2022	-1.1 °C
2023	-0.1 °C
2024	-0.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Utqiagvik's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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