When to plant in Elkfork, KY

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 30

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 16

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 21

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

185

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cave Run Lake · 39.2 km away · station 256 m, town 261 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Elkfork plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 24
Sweet pepper	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 29
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 12 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 28
Peas	—	Mar 10 – Apr 7	May 4
Bush beans	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 12
Carrot	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 25
Beet	—	Mar 21 – May 2	May 10
Potato	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	Jun 4
Kale	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 1
Broccoli	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 9	May 18
Cucumber	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 19
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 14
Winter squash	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jul 19
Sweet corn	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 22
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 19 – Apr 9	Jun 17
Garlic	—	Oct 7 – Nov 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 10 – Apr 7	Apr 17
Basil	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 26

Plan all 65 crops for Elkfork

Elkfork'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
1906	May 11
1907	May 5
1908	May 1
1909	May 4
1910	May 15
1911	May 7
1912	Apr 19
1913	May 18
1914	Apr 13
1915	Apr 18
1916	May 19
1917	May 14
1918	Apr 14
1919	Apr 27
1921	May 8
1923	May 10
1924	Apr 28
1925	May 27
1926	May 9
1927	May 17
1928	May 13
1929	Apr 23
1931	May 24
1932	Apr 29
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 29
1936	Apr 24
1937	Apr 12
1938	Apr 23
1939	May 4
1940	May 12
1941	May 13
1942	Apr 22
1943	Apr 22
1944	Apr 29
1945	May 1
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 31
1948	Apr 10
1949	Apr 25
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 24
1952	Apr 17
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 21
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 23
1957	May 6
1958	Apr 14
1959	Apr 24
1960	May 2
1961	May 27
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 11
1965	Apr 17
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 29
1968	May 6
1969	May 1
1970	Apr 11
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	May 7
1976	May 5
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 20
1980	May 10
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 24
1983	May 10
1984	Apr 3
1985	Apr 11
1986	May 5
1987	Apr 11
1988	May 1
1989	May 4
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 12
1992	Apr 30
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 9
1995	Apr 6
1996	Apr 24
1997	Apr 19
1998	Apr 12
1999	Mar 31
2000	Apr 10
2001	Apr 20
2002	May 23
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 6
2005	Mar 22
2006	Apr 11
2007	Apr 11
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 12
2010	Apr 19
2011	Apr 15
2012	Apr 25
2013	Apr 5
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 25
2016	Apr 10
2017	Apr 9
2018	May 1
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 23
2025	Apr 14
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1908	150
1909	161
1910	160
1911	168
1913	127
1914	196
1916	134
1917	140
1918	161
1919	189
1923	128
1924	155
1925	135
1926	165
1927	128
1928	133
1929	166
1931	146
1932	160
1933	169
1934	167
1936	176
1937	158
1938	180
1939	161
1940	158
1941	150
1942	158
1943	164
1944	169
1945	155
1947	122
1948	184
1950	197
1951	167
1952	169
1953	167
1954	150
1955	198
1956	170
1957	158
1958	170
1959	177
1960	171
1961	140
1962	149
1963	159
1964	177
1965	170
1966	149
1967	166
1968	151
1969	166
1970	188
1971	183
1972	175
1973	151
1974	147
1976	165
1977	158
1978	157
1979	176
1980	148
1981	164
1982	175
1983	168
1984	213
1985	210
1986	162
1987	175
1988	156
1989	142
1990	183
1991	177
1992	153
1993	155
1994	200
1995	211
1996	178
1997	185
1998	193
1999	207
2000	180
2001	169
2002	162
2003	185
2004	216
2005	220
2006	196
2007	200
2008	185
2009	188
2010	185
2011	169
2012	150
2013	202
2014	198
2015	175
2016	213
2017	203
2018	173
2019	212
2020	173
2021	185
2022	170
2023	188
2024	212
2025	193

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1906	20.6 °C
1907	18.6 °C
1908	20.4 °C
1909	19.6 °C
1910	19.2 °C
1911	20.6 °C
1912	20.1 °C
1913	19.8 °C
1914	20.1 °C
1915	19.8 °C
1916	19.6 °C
1917	18.8 °C
1918	19.7 °C
1919	20.6 °C
1923	19.9 °C
1924	18.2 °C
1925	20.5 °C
1927	19.3 °C
1928	18.3 °C
1929	18.9 °C
1931	20.7 °C
1932	20.5 °C
1933	20.7 °C
1934	20.2 °C
1936	21.1 °C
1937	19.5 °C
1941	20.5 °C
1942	20.9 °C
1943	21.0 °C
1944	21.1 °C
1945	20.0 °C
1947	19.8 °C
1950	18.5 °C
1951	20.0 °C
1952	20.6 °C
1953	20.6 °C
1954	20.9 °C
1955	21.1 °C
1956	20.0 °C
1957	20.8 °C
1958	20.0 °C
1959	21.0 °C
1960	20.3 °C
1961	19.1 °C
1962	19.8 °C
1963	19.3 °C
1964	20.5 °C
1965	20.4 °C
1966	19.2 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	19.8 °C
1969	20.3 °C
1970	20.9 °C
1971	19.5 °C
1972	19.5 °C
1973	20.0 °C
1974	19.2 °C
1976	18.5 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	19.9 °C
1979	18.8 °C
1980	19.8 °C
1981	19.7 °C
1982	18.8 °C
1983	19.5 °C
1984	19.2 °C
1985	19.8 °C
1986	20.5 °C
1987	20.4 °C
1988	19.7 °C
1989	18.7 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	21.1 °C
1992	18.6 °C
1993	19.6 °C
1994	20.0 °C
1995	20.7 °C
1996	19.9 °C
1997	18.7 °C
1998	21.0 °C
1999	21.2 °C
2000	20.2 °C
2001	20.7 °C
2002	21.4 °C
2004	20.6 °C
2005	21.2 °C
2006	20.4 °C
2007	21.4 °C
2008	20.4 °C
2009	20.2 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	19.7 °C
2012	19.5 °C
2013	20.1 °C
2014	19.7 °C
2015	19.9 °C
2016	20.4 °C
2017	19.6 °C
2018	20.4 °C
2019	20.6 °C
2020	19.2 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2022	20.2 °C
2023	19.4 °C
2024	20.8 °C
2025	20.6 °C
2026	21.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1906, Elkfork's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

West Liberty Salyersville Paintsville Morehead (near Mount Sterling)Olive Hill Van Lear