When to plant in Lenoir, NC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 8

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 28

1 year in 10 by Oct 17

Frost-free days

207

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lenoir · 0.2 km away · station 352 m, town 357 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 16
Sweet pepper	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 4 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 20
Peas	—	Feb 25 – Mar 25	Apr 21
Bush beans	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 4
Carrot	—	Mar 18 – Apr 29	May 17
Beet	—	Mar 11 – Apr 22	Apr 30
Potato	—	Mar 18 – Apr 8	May 27
Kale	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 23
Broccoli	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Apr 1	May 10
Cucumber	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 6
Winter squash	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jul 11
Sweet corn	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 11 – Apr 1	Jun 9
Garlic	—	Oct 14 – Nov 11 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 25 – Mar 25	Apr 4
Basil	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 18

Plan all 65 crops for Lenoir

Lenoir'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	Apr 2
1903	Apr 25
1904	Apr 21
1909	May 3
1910	May 15
1911	Apr 26
1912	Apr 9
1915	Apr 3
1917	Apr 15
1918	May 2
1919	Apr 27
1920	Apr 15
1921	Apr 12
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 11
1924	Apr 23
1925	May 2
1926	Apr 27
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 18
1929	Mar 19
1930	Apr 25
1931	Mar 26
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 13
1934	Apr 22
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 11
1939	May 4
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 31
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 7
1945	Apr 8
1946	Apr 13
1947	Apr 19
1948	Apr 4
1949	Apr 25
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 8
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 5
1955	Mar 31
1956	Apr 21
1957	Apr 15
1958	Mar 29
1959	Apr 15
1960	May 13
1961	Apr 20
1962	Apr 21
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 3
1966	Apr 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	Apr 12
1969	Apr 25
1971	Apr 15
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	Apr 7
1975	Apr 13
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 27
1978	Mar 28
1979	Apr 7
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 7
1982	Apr 24
1983	Apr 21
1984	Apr 11
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 24
1987	Apr 3
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 13
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 30
1993	Mar 21
1994	Apr 9
1995	Apr 3
1996	Apr 12
1997	May 21
1998	Mar 29
1999	Mar 29
2000	Apr 26
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2004	Apr 6
2006	Mar 28
2007	Apr 10
2009	Mar 23
2010	Mar 27
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 12
2013	Mar 30
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 25
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 3
2020	Apr 16
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 10
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 25
2025	Apr 14
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	193
1909	162
1910	166
1911	181
1915	189
1917	174
1918	166
1919	192
1920	175
1921	176
1922	171
1923	162
1924	161
1925	161
1926	181
1927	171
1928	188
1929	220
1930	176
1931	205
1932	161
1933	195
1934	175
1937	180
1938	193
1939	163
1940	166
1941	174
1942	189
1943	179
1945	178
1946	171
1947	161
1948	197
1949	190
1950	197
1951	199
1952	195
1953	198
1954	185
1955	199
1956	202
1957	187
1958	214
1959	187
1960	160
1961	189
1962	186
1963	181
1964	183
1965	204
1966	202
1967	153
1968	175
1969	175
1971	203
1972	176
1973	152
1974	178
1975	172
1976	187
1977	173
1978	203
1979	189
1980	202
1981	195
1982	177
1983	189
1984	209
1985	212
1986	203
1987	188
1988	175
1989	165
1990	196
1991	216
1992	172
1993	215
1994	201
1995	215
1996	204
2000	166
2001	180
2002	207
2003	227
2004	213
2006	199
2007	201
2009	209
2010	222
2011	206
2012	208
2013	207
2014	190
2015	195
2016	214
2017	218
2018	184
2019	212
2020	200
2021	195
2022	192
2023	225
2024	205
2025	200

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1902	20.0 °C
1903	20.1 °C
1904	19.4 °C
1909	19.9 °C
1910	20.5 °C
1911	21.3 °C
1915	20.5 °C
1917	20.0 °C
1918	20.2 °C
1919	20.6 °C
1920	20.0 °C
1921	21.3 °C
1922	21.0 °C
1923	20.5 °C
1924	20.0 °C
1925	21.8 °C
1926	21.2 °C
1927	20.4 °C
1928	19.9 °C
1929	20.5 °C
1930	21.4 °C
1932	21.1 °C
1933	21.7 °C
1934	21.2 °C
1937	21.1 °C
1938	21.4 °C
1939	21.4 °C
1940	19.8 °C
1941	20.7 °C
1942	20.7 °C
1943	21.4 °C
1944	21.4 °C
1945	21.0 °C
1946	20.2 °C
1947	18.9 °C
1948	21.1 °C
1949	20.6 °C
1950	20.9 °C
1951	21.3 °C
1952	21.5 °C
1953	21.6 °C
1954	21.8 °C
1955	21.6 °C
1956	20.8 °C
1957	21.4 °C
1958	21.0 °C
1959	20.9 °C
1960	20.8 °C
1961	19.8 °C
1962	20.9 °C
1963	20.7 °C
1964	21.1 °C
1965	21.3 °C
1966	20.7 °C
1967	19.9 °C
1968	21.0 °C
1969	20.6 °C
1971	20.7 °C
1972	19.4 °C
1973	19.8 °C
1974	19.9 °C
1975	20.4 °C
1976	19.8 °C
1977	22.1 °C
1978	21.7 °C
1979	20.7 °C
1980	21.9 °C
1981	21.6 °C
1982	21.1 °C
1983	21.0 °C
1984	20.5 °C
1985	21.3 °C
1986	22.4 °C
1987	22.1 °C
1988	21.8 °C
1989	21.1 °C
1990	21.9 °C
1991	22.2 °C
1992	19.8 °C
1993	21.2 °C
1994	20.5 °C
1995	20.9 °C
1996	20.4 °C
1998	21.8 °C
1999	21.6 °C
2000	20.7 °C
2001	21.1 °C
2002	22.1 °C
2003	20.7 °C
2004	21.2 °C
2006	21.2 °C
2009	21.1 °C
2010	22.8 °C
2011	22.0 °C
2012	21.8 °C
2013	20.6 °C
2014	21.0 °C
2015	22.0 °C
2016	22.1 °C
2017	21.6 °C
2018	21.8 °C
2019	22.2 °C
2020	20.7 °C
2021	20.8 °C
2022	21.6 °C
2023	20.9 °C
2024	22.1 °C
2025	21.6 °C
2026	22.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Lenoir'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 Lenoir (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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