When to plant in Arkoma, OK

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 14

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 25

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 7

1 year in 10 by Oct 28

Frost-free days

226

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Ft Smith Rgnl Ap · 6.7 km away · station 137 m, town 158 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 17 – Mar 3	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 8
Sweet pepper	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 21 – Jan 28	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 6
Peas	—	Feb 11 – Mar 11	Apr 7
Bush beans	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	May 27
Carrot	—	Mar 4 – Apr 15	May 3
Beet	—	Feb 25 – Apr 8	Apr 16
Potato	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	May 13
Kale	Jan 14 – Jan 28	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 9
Broccoli	Jan 14 – Jan 28	Feb 25 – Mar 18	Apr 26
Cucumber	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 29
Winter squash	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jul 3
Sweet corn	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 25 – Mar 18	May 26
Garlic	—	Oct 24 – Nov 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 11 – Mar 11	Mar 21
Basil	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 10

Plan all 65 crops for Arkoma

Arkoma'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
1946	Mar 9
1947	Mar 28
1948	Mar 13
1949	Mar 19
1950	Apr 6
1951	Apr 17
1952	Mar 28
1953	Apr 16
1954	Apr 1
1955	Mar 29
1956	Mar 20
1957	Apr 13
1958	Mar 20
1959	Apr 14
1960	Mar 26
1961	Apr 13
1962	Apr 3
1963	Mar 22
1964	Apr 9
1965	Mar 27
1966	Apr 6
1967	Mar 18
1968	Apr 5
1969	Mar 26
1970	Mar 27
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 4
1973	Apr 11
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 4
1976	Mar 31
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 27
1979	Apr 5
1980	Apr 15
1981	Mar 20
1982	Apr 6
1983	Apr 15
1984	Mar 30
1985	Mar 5
1986	Mar 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Mar 30
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 7
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 15
1994	Apr 7
1995	Mar 10
1996	Mar 26
1997	Apr 14
1998	Mar 22
1999	Mar 15
2000	Apr 9
2001	Mar 21
2002	Mar 27
2003	Apr 10
2004	Mar 12
2005	Mar 17
2006	Mar 25
2007	Apr 8
2008	Apr 14
2009	Apr 7
2010	Mar 23
2011	Mar 6
2012	Feb 25
2013	Mar 27
2014	Apr 15
2015	Mar 7
2016	Mar 21
2017	Mar 15
2018	Apr 16
2019	Mar 16
2020	Mar 1
2021	Apr 21
2022	Apr 1
2023	Mar 20
2024	Mar 27

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1946	216
1947	224
1948	218
1949	225
1950	211
1951	198
1952	193
1953	203
1954	214
1955	209
1956	232
1957	195
1958	243
1959	204
1960	207
1961	204
1962	219
1963	224
1964	193
1965	211
1966	192
1967	223
1968	206
1969	222
1970	223
1971	210
1972	217
1973	212
1974	218
1975	197
1976	203
1977	203
1978	213
1979	211
1980	192
1981	216
1982	200
1983	209
1984	225
1985	258
1986	234
1987	198
1988	230
1989	190
1990	198
1991	215
1992	214
1993	228
1994	201
1995	237
1996	221
1997	203
1998	228
1999	222
2000	182
2001	243
2002	224
2003	226
2004	257
2005	243
2006	221
2007	212
2008	196
2009	232
2010	227
2011	255
2012	244
2013	229
2014	199
2015	250
2016	242
2017	226
2018	206
2019	228
2020	271
2021	205
2022	200
2023	224
2024	243

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1946	23.5 °C
1947	23.9 °C
1948	23.9 °C
1949	23.5 °C
1950	22.4 °C
1951	23.2 °C
1952	23.9 °C
1953	23.7 °C
1954	25.4 °C
1955	24.4 °C
1956	24.2 °C
1957	23.7 °C
1958	23.6 °C
1959	23.8 °C
1960	23.8 °C
1961	22.2 °C
1962	23.9 °C
1963	24.5 °C
1964	24.0 °C
1965	24.1 °C
1966	22.8 °C
1967	22.7 °C
1968	23.3 °C
1969	23.8 °C
1970	24.3 °C
1971	22.8 °C
1972	22.9 °C
1973	22.2 °C
1974	22.0 °C
1975	22.3 °C
1976	21.6 °C
1977	24.6 °C
1978	24.4 °C
1979	22.2 °C
1980	24.5 °C
1981	23.3 °C
1982	22.4 °C
1983	22.4 °C
1984	22.7 °C
1985	23.5 °C
1986	24.1 °C
1987	24.0 °C
1988	24.4 °C
1989	22.8 °C
1990	23.9 °C
1991	24.0 °C
1992	22.3 °C
1993	23.7 °C
1994	23.4 °C
1995	23.0 °C
1996	22.9 °C
1997	22.6 °C
1998	25.3 °C
1999	23.9 °C
2000	24.1 °C
2001	24.6 °C
2002	24.0 °C
2003	23.5 °C
2004	23.2 °C
2005	24.5 °C
2006	24.6 °C
2007	23.7 °C
2008	23.4 °C
2009	23.2 °C
2010	25.6 °C
2011	25.9 °C
2012	26.2 °C
2013	24.1 °C
2014	23.5 °C
2015	24.4 °C
2016	24.6 °C
2017	24.1 °C
2018	24.7 °C
2019	24.7 °C
2020	23.5 °C
2021	23.9 °C
2022	25.3 °C
2023	25.1 °C
2024	25.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1946, Arkoma'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 Ft Smith Rgnl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Fort Smith, AR Roland Van Buren, AR Barling, AR Pocola Muldrow