When to plant in Bay, AR

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 29

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 5

1 year in 10 by Oct 27

Frost-free days

217

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Jonesboro 3 Sse · 12.4 km away · station 79 m, town 70 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Bay plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 10
Sweet pepper	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 25 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 10
Peas	—	Feb 21 – Mar 21	Apr 17
Bush beans	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	May 29
Carrot	—	Mar 8 – Apr 19	May 7
Beet	—	Mar 5 – Apr 16	Apr 24
Potato	—	Mar 8 – Mar 29	May 17
Kale	Jan 18 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 13
Broccoli	Jan 18 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 22	Apr 30
Cucumber	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 31
Winter squash	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jul 5
Sweet corn	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 1 – Mar 22	May 30
Garlic	—	Oct 22 – Nov 19 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 21 – Mar 21	Mar 31
Basil	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 12

Plan all 65 crops for Bay

Bay'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
1896	Apr 3
1897	Mar 14
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 8
1901	Mar 21
1902	Mar 19
1903	Mar 25
1904	Mar 28
1905	Apr 16
1906	Apr 1
1907	Apr 14
1908	Apr 30
1909	May 2
1910	Apr 25
1911	Mar 24
1912	Mar 25
1913	Mar 29
1914	Apr 10
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 9
1917	Apr 10
1918	Apr 12
1920	Apr 5
1921	Apr 18
1922	Mar 8
1923	Apr 1
1924	Apr 2
1925	Mar 16
1926	Apr 1
1927	Apr 22
1928	Apr 16
1929	Mar 10
1930	Mar 30
1931	Mar 17
1932	Mar 15
1933	Mar 21
1934	Mar 28
1935	Mar 17
1936	Apr 8
1937	Mar 29
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 12
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 29
1942	Mar 31
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 5
1945	Mar 9
1946	Mar 11
1948	Mar 28
1949	Mar 20
1950	Apr 15
1951	Apr 17
1952	Mar 26
1953	Apr 19
1954	Apr 1
1955	Mar 29
1956	Mar 25
1957	Apr 13
1958	Mar 21
1959	Mar 23
1960	Apr 10
1961	Mar 10
1962	Apr 3
1963	Feb 27
1964	Mar 30
1965	Mar 27
1966	Mar 28
1967	Mar 18
1968	Mar 24
1969	Mar 30
1970	Mar 23
1971	Apr 6
1972	Apr 8
1973	Apr 11
1974	Mar 25
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 19
1979	Mar 26
1980	Mar 22
1981	Mar 24
1982	Apr 6
1983	Apr 19
1984	Mar 11
1985	Mar 6
1986	Mar 22
1987	Apr 4
1988	Mar 30
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 12
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 3
1994	Apr 7
1995	Mar 10
1996	Apr 6
1997	Apr 14
1998	Mar 13
1999	Mar 15
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2004	Mar 23
2006	Mar 26
2008	Apr 16
2010	Mar 6
2012	Mar 10
2013	May 4
2014	Apr 17
2015	Mar 30
2016	Mar 22
2017	Mar 16
2018	Apr 16
2019	Apr 3
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 22
2023	Mar 21
2025	Mar 6
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	202
1899	205
1901	267
1903	213
1905	178
1906	191
1909	162
1910	185
1912	222
1913	205
1914	199
1915	187
1916	194
1917	181
1918	202
1920	206
1921	207
1922	252
1923	212
1924	220
1925	225
1926	206
1927	197
1928	197
1929	239
1930	214
1931	259
1932	240
1933	231
1934	218
1935	245
1936	209
1937	207
1938	196
1939	199
1940	207
1941	223
1942	208
1943	184
1944	238
1945	239
1948	203
1949	220
1950	208
1951	198
1952	194
1953	200
1954	211
1955	218
1956	228
1957	196
1958	230
1959	227
1960	210
1961	229
1962	215
1963	259
1964	234
1965	246
1966	218
1967	230
1968	229
1969	228
1970	237
1971	214
1972	221
1973	208
1977	233
1979	222
1980	221
1981	213
1982	211
1983	206
1984	236
1985	243
1986	234
1987	199
1988	231
1989	205
1990	196
1991	216
1992	217
1993	209
1995	238
1996	209
1997	203
1998	237
2004	246
2008	194
2010	237
2012	242
2013	173
2014	197
2015	236
2016	235
2017	225
2018	207
2019	211
2020	238
2021	195
2023	223
2025	248

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	23.6 °C
1897	22.3 °C
1898	23.0 °C
1900	25.5 °C
1901	25.2 °C
1903	22.0 °C
1904	23.5 °C
1906	23.6 °C
1908	23.3 °C
1909	23.2 °C
1910	22.1 °C
1911	23.3 °C
1912	23.2 °C
1913	23.4 °C
1914	23.9 °C
1915	22.4 °C
1916	23.0 °C
1917	21.2 °C
1918	22.8 °C
1920	23.2 °C
1921	25.0 °C
1922	24.1 °C
1923	23.1 °C
1924	22.4 °C
1925	25.2 °C
1926	23.2 °C
1927	23.1 °C
1928	22.3 °C
1929	23.3 °C
1930	24.5 °C
1931	23.4 °C
1932	24.2 °C
1933	24.3 °C
1934	24.4 °C
1935	22.9 °C
1936	24.3 °C
1937	23.4 °C
1938	23.8 °C
1939	23.4 °C
1940	22.1 °C
1941	24.4 °C
1942	23.2 °C
1943	24.2 °C
1944	23.7 °C
1945	22.6 °C
1948	22.9 °C
1949	22.5 °C
1950	21.7 °C
1951	22.6 °C
1952	23.5 °C
1953	23.7 °C
1954	24.9 °C
1955	23.9 °C
1956	23.8 °C
1957	23.6 °C
1958	23.4 °C
1959	24.1 °C
1960	23.5 °C
1961	22.5 °C
1962	23.8 °C
1963	24.0 °C
1964	23.8 °C
1965	23.9 °C
1966	22.6 °C
1967	22.6 °C
1968	23.5 °C
1969	24.1 °C
1970	24.2 °C
1971	23.2 °C
1972	23.4 °C
1973	23.1 °C
1974	21.7 °C
1977	25.0 °C
1978	23.0 °C
1979	21.7 °C
1980	24.0 °C
1981	22.6 °C
1986	24.5 °C
1989	22.6 °C
1990	22.8 °C
1991	23.7 °C
1992	22.1 °C
1993	23.0 °C
1994	22.4 °C
1995	22.7 °C
1996	22.8 °C
1997	22.3 °C
1998	24.5 °C
1999	23.6 °C
2002	23.2 °C
2007	23.1 °C
2008	21.7 °C
2010	24.1 °C
2011	23.4 °C
2012	23.5 °C
2013	22.4 °C
2014	22.5 °C
2015	22.7 °C
2017	22.5 °C
2018	22.9 °C
2019	22.9 °C
2020	21.9 °C
2021	22.1 °C
2022	22.9 °C
2023	23.0 °C
2025	24.4 °C
2026	25.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, Bay's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Jonesboro 3 Sse (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Trumann Lake City Jonesboro Brookland Caraway Harrisburg