When to plant in Atlantic City, NJ

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 9

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 24

1 year in 10 by Nov 9

Frost-free days

246

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Atlantic City Marina · 1.5 km away · station 3 m, town 2 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Atlantic City plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 15
Sweet pepper	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 8 – Feb 15	Mar 15 – Mar 29	Apr 24
Peas	—	Mar 15 – Apr 12	May 9
Bush beans	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 5
Carrot	—	Mar 29 – May 10	May 28
Beet	—	Mar 29 – May 10	May 18
Potato	—	Mar 29 – Apr 19	Jun 7
Kale	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 4
Broccoli	Feb 1 – Feb 15	Mar 15 – Apr 5	May 14
Cucumber	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 5
Winter squash	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jul 10
Sweet corn	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 15
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 15 – Apr 5	Jun 13
Garlic	—	Oct 31 – Nov 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 15 – Apr 12	Apr 22
Basil	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 17

Plan all 65 crops for Atlantic City

Atlantic City'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
1874	Apr 30
1875	Apr 25
1876	Apr 20
1877	Apr 11
1878	Mar 27
1879	Apr 20
1880	Apr 12
1881	Apr 7
1882	Apr 13
1883	Apr 25
1884	Apr 7
1885	Apr 14
1886	Apr 9
1887	Apr 20
1888	Apr 25
1889	Apr 14
1890	Apr 19
1891	Apr 9
1892	Apr 13
1893	Mar 30
1894	Apr 9
1895	Apr 11
1896	Apr 11
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 8
1899	Apr 10
1900	Apr 11
1901	Mar 30
1902	Mar 20
1903	Apr 5
1904	Apr 20
1905	Apr 19
1906	Apr 3
1907	Apr 21
1908	Apr 5
1909	Apr 11
1910	Mar 18
1911	Apr 2
1912	Apr 4
1913	Apr 21
1914	Apr 10
1915	Apr 4
1916	Mar 24
1917	Apr 15
1918	Apr 13
1919	Apr 3
1920	Apr 9
1921	Apr 11
1922	Apr 3
1923	Apr 2
1924	Apr 3
1925	Mar 4
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 11
1928	Apr 18
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 24
1931	Mar 21
1932	Apr 17
1933	Mar 29
1934	Mar 30
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 8
1937	Mar 29
1938	Mar 28
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 31
1942	Mar 26
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 6
1945	Mar 8
1946	Mar 1
1947	Mar 31
1948	Apr 10
1949	Mar 20
1950	Apr 14
1951	Mar 27
1952	Mar 18
1953	Mar 11
1954	Apr 4
1955	Mar 29
1956	Apr 1
1957	Apr 13
1958	Apr 9
1959	Mar 29
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 9
1962	Mar 18
1963	Mar 23
1964	Apr 5
1965	Apr 5
1966	Mar 29
1967	Apr 12
1968	Mar 25
1969	Apr 1
1970	Mar 30
1971	Mar 31
1972	Apr 9
1973	Feb 28
1974	Apr 10
1975	Apr 14
1976	Apr 12
1977	Apr 10
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 28
1980	Apr 17
1981	Mar 20
1982	Apr 10
1983	Feb 27
1984	Mar 24
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 23
1987	Apr 1
1988	Mar 22
1990	Mar 27
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 20
1994	Mar 19
1995	Apr 6
1996	Apr 9
1997	Apr 10
1998	Mar 17
1999	Mar 16
2000	Mar 18
2001	Mar 28
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 14
2004	Apr 6
2005	Mar 16
2006	Mar 22
2007	Mar 21
2008	Mar 24
2009	Mar 24
2010	Mar 6
2011	Mar 29
2012	Mar 6
2013	Apr 4
2014	Apr 16
2015	Mar 29
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Mar 22
2019	Apr 1
2020	Mar 1
2021	Apr 3
2022	Mar 30
2023	Mar 20
2024	Mar 24

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1874	167
1875	190
1876	177
1877	209
1878	215
1879	187
1880	195
1881	221
1882	215
1883	191
1884	199
1885	214
1886	211
1887	195
1888	167
1889	205
1890	215
1891	202
1892	205
1893	214
1894	211
1895	201
1896	216
1897	207
1898	217
1899	210
1900	218
1901	225
1902	252
1903	214
1904	190
1905	196
1906	212
1907	209
1908	210
1909	200
1910	225
1911	213
1912	212
1913	193
1914	200
1915	226
1916	236
1917	198
1918	223
1919	224
1920	216
1921	215
1922	220
1923	220
1924	227
1925	238
1926	197
1927	210
1928	194
1929	247
1930	179
1931	230
1932	218
1933	210
1934	227
1935	220
1936	201
1937	199
1938	240
1939	215
1940	190
1941	235
1942	232
1943	210
1944	219
1945	257
1946	266
1947	227
1948	243
1949	246
1950	213
1951	220
1952	216
1953	240
1954	241
1955	235
1956	223
1957	211
1958	231
1959	218
1960	209
1961	242
1962	231
1963	246
1964	229
1965	206
1966	219
1967	207
1968	233
1969	227
1970	237
1971	220
1972	219
1973	253
1974	191
1975	198
1976	197
1977	216
1978	252
1979	245
1980	212
1981	247
1982	190
1983	250
1984	239
1985	235
1986	234
1987	223
1990	236
1991	218
1992	219
1993	250
1994	248
1995	216
1996	216
1997	220
1998	272
1999	245
2000	247
2001	268
2002	233
2003	262
2004	217
2005	246
2006	256
2007	247
2008	238
2009	256
2010	272
2011	256
2012	274
2013	222
2014	212
2015	276
2016	226
2017	231
2018	233
2019	220
2020	280
2021	234
2022	234
2023	249
2024	250

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1874	17.0 °C
1875	16.8 °C
1876	17.9 °C
1877	17.9 °C
1878	18.5 °C
1879	16.9 °C
1880	18.8 °C
1881	18.0 °C
1882	17.5 °C
1883	17.1 °C
1884	17.8 °C
1885	17.6 °C
1886	17.6 °C
1887	18.0 °C
1888	17.2 °C
1889	17.4 °C
1890	17.5 °C
1891	17.6 °C
1892	17.6 °C
1893	17.4 °C
1894	17.7 °C
1895	17.9 °C
1896	18.3 °C
1897	17.8 °C
1898	17.9 °C
1899	17.6 °C
1900	18.8 °C
1901	17.9 °C
1902	17.5 °C
1903	17.6 °C
1904	17.7 °C
1905	17.9 °C
1906	18.9 °C
1907	16.6 °C
1908	18.2 °C
1909	17.9 °C
1910	18.4 °C
1911	18.4 °C
1912	18.1 °C
1913	18.5 °C
1914	18.0 °C
1915	18.3 °C
1916	17.8 °C
1917	17.4 °C
1918	18.0 °C
1919	18.2 °C
1920	17.3 °C
1921	18.8 °C
1922	18.6 °C
1923	18.2 °C
1924	17.5 °C
1925	18.9 °C
1926	17.9 °C
1927	17.1 °C
1928	17.7 °C
1929	18.3 °C
1930	19.2 °C
1931	19.2 °C
1932	18.5 °C
1933	19.2 °C
1934	18.9 °C
1935	18.3 °C
1936	18.5 °C
1937	18.9 °C
1938	18.7 °C
1939	19.0 °C
1940	17.8 °C
1941	19.2 °C
1942	19.6 °C
1943	18.4 °C
1944	18.8 °C
1945	19.2 °C
1946	18.4 °C
1947	18.3 °C
1948	18.4 °C
1949	19.4 °C
1950	17.6 °C
1951	19.1 °C
1952	19.8 °C
1953	19.4 °C
1954	18.8 °C
1955	19.3 °C
1956	17.8 °C
1957	18.8 °C
1958	18.3 °C
1959	19.5 °C
1960	19.0 °C
1961	18.4 °C
1962	18.0 °C
1963	18.5 °C
1964	18.9 °C
1965	18.8 °C
1966	18.6 °C
1967	18.3 °C
1968	19.9 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	19.1 °C
1971	17.8 °C
1972	17.8 °C
1973	19.1 °C
1974	18.8 °C
1975	18.3 °C
1976	18.3 °C
1977	19.5 °C
1978	17.5 °C
1979	18.3 °C
1980	19.2 °C
1981	19.7 °C
1982	17.7 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	19.5 °C
1985	19.7 °C
1986	19.5 °C
1987	19.6 °C
1988	18.4 °C
1990	19.2 °C
1991	20.4 °C
1992	18.1 °C
1993	19.5 °C
1994	19.0 °C
1995	19.4 °C
1996	19.0 °C
1997	19.0 °C
1998	20.4 °C
1999	20.1 °C
2000	19.4 °C
2001	19.9 °C
2002	20.6 °C
2003	18.7 °C
2004	19.7 °C
2005	19.8 °C
2006	19.9 °C
2007	19.3 °C
2008	19.6 °C
2009	19.5 °C
2010	20.9 °C
2011	20.4 °C
2012	20.7 °C
2013	19.1 °C
2014	19.1 °C
2015	20.5 °C
2016	20.0 °C
2017	19.8 °C
2018	20.1 °C
2019	20.4 °C
2020	19.4 °C
2021	20.0 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	19.8 °C
2024	19.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1874, Atlantic City'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 Atlantic City Marina (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Ventnor City Brigantine Margate City Pleasantville Absecon Northfield