When to plant in Moab, UT

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 25

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 11

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 18

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

184

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Moab · 0.4 km away · station 1235 m, town 1227 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Moab plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 19
Sweet pepper	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 24
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 23
Peas	—	Feb 28 – Mar 28	Apr 24
Bush beans	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 7
Carrot	—	Mar 21 – May 2	May 20
Beet	—	Mar 14 – Apr 25	May 3
Potato	—	Mar 21 – Apr 11	May 30
Kale	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 26
Broccoli	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 13
Cucumber	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 14
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 9
Winter squash	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jul 14
Sweet corn	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 17
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	Jun 12
Garlic	—	Oct 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 28 – Mar 28	Apr 7
Basil	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 21

Plan all 65 crops for Moab

Moab'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
1893	Apr 19
1894	Apr 18
1895	Apr 8
1896	Apr 23
1897	Apr 12
1898	Apr 13
1899	May 4
1900	Apr 12
1901	Apr 18
1902	Apr 15
1903	Apr 30
1904	Apr 9
1905	Apr 6
1906	Apr 3
1907	May 14
1908	Apr 30
1909	May 2
1910	Apr 17
1911	Apr 17
1912	Apr 26
1913	Apr 24
1914	Mar 25
1915	May 3
1916	May 16
1917	Apr 30
1918	May 12
1921	Apr 27
1922	Apr 20
1923	Apr 24
1924	Apr 27
1925	Mar 31
1926	Apr 2
1927	May 9
1928	Apr 24
1929	May 11
1930	May 10
1931	Apr 15
1932	Apr 25
1933	Apr 16
1934	Apr 7
1936	Apr 9
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 9
1939	Apr 18
1940	Mar 24
1941	Apr 20
1942	Mar 31
1943	Apr 1
1944	Apr 23
1946	Apr 4
1948	Apr 13
1950	Apr 29
1951	Apr 12
1953	May 10
1957	Apr 26
1958	Apr 6
1959	Apr 12
1960	Apr 3
1961	Apr 15
1962	Apr 1
1963	Apr 23
1964	Mar 30
1965	Mar 25
1966	Apr 28
1967	May 3
1968	Apr 14
1969	Apr 19
1970	Apr 16
1971	Apr 6
1972	Apr 3
1973	Apr 9
1974	Apr 16
1975	Apr 29
1976	Apr 27
1977	Apr 5
1978	Apr 22
1979	Apr 13
1980	Apr 14
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 22
1983	Apr 17
1984	Apr 29
1985	Apr 23
1986	Apr 27
1987	Apr 20
1988	Apr 11
1989	Apr 13
1991	Apr 13
1992	Mar 10
1993	Mar 14
1994	Mar 31
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 29
1997	Apr 14
1998	Apr 8
1999	Apr 16
2000	Mar 24
2001	Apr 14
2002	Apr 21
2003	Apr 10
2004	Mar 8
2005	Apr 2
2006	Apr 20
2007	Apr 13
2008	Apr 25
2009	Apr 7
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 1
2012	Apr 8
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 29
2015	Apr 16
2016	Apr 2
2017	Apr 11
2018	Apr 18
2019	Apr 12
2020	Apr 14
2021	Apr 19
2023	Apr 21
2024	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	175
1894	172
1895	167
1896	183
1897	198
1898	171
1899	164
1900	177
1901	159
1902	171
1903	168
1904	191
1905	185
1906	185
1907	168
1908	149
1909	143
1910	185
1911	181
1912	142
1913	164
1914	198
1915	162
1916	156
1917	170
1921	183
1922	180
1923	172
1924	167
1925	203
1926	210
1927	144
1928	175
1929	162
1930	158
1931	182
1932	162
1933	182
1934	172
1936	180
1937	170
1938	162
1939	194
1940	217
1941	169
1942	208
1943	212
1944	180
1946	189
1948	176
1950	190
1951	193
1953	169
1958	197
1959	188
1960	210
1961	190
1962	219
1963	191
1965	226
1966	169
1967	165
1968	185
1969	183
1970	184
1971	206
1973	200
1974	204
1975	162
1976	174
1977	189
1978	151
1979	191
1980	192
1981	202
1982	169
1983	205
1984	171
1985	159
1986	168
1987	182
1988	207
1989	177
1992	238
1993	229
1994	207
1995	162
1996	151
1997	181
1998	180
1999	165
2000	222
2002	191
2003	186
2004	238
2005	212
2006	181
2007	191
2008	170
2009	177
2010	198
2011	158
2012	199
2013	167
2014	181
2015	204
2016	187
2017	181
2018	179
2019	177
2020	194
2021	178
2023	177

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	20.1 °C
1894	20.7 °C
1895	20.3 °C
1896	20.9 °C
1897	20.2 °C
1898	20.7 °C
1899	20.9 °C
1900	20.2 °C
1901	21.1 °C
1902	20.2 °C
1903	19.8 °C
1904	20.7 °C
1905	20.1 °C
1906	19.7 °C
1907	19.6 °C
1908	19.7 °C
1909	20.3 °C
1910	21.6 °C
1911	21.0 °C
1912	19.3 °C
1913	21.1 °C
1914	21.5 °C
1915	19.7 °C
1916	19.7 °C
1917	19.2 °C
1918	20.1 °C
1919	21.9 °C
1921	20.0 °C
1922	20.5 °C
1923	20.5 °C
1924	21.0 °C
1925	21.6 °C
1926	21.7 °C
1927	20.4 °C
1928	20.4 °C
1929	20.6 °C
1930	21.1 °C
1932	20.4 °C
1933	20.5 °C
1934	21.5 °C
1936	22.1 °C
1937	21.1 °C
1938	21.3 °C
1939	21.8 °C
1940	22.1 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	20.7 °C
1943	21.8 °C
1944	20.9 °C
1945	21.0 °C
1946	22.1 °C
1948	21.7 °C
1949	22.5 °C
1950	20.9 °C
1951	21.9 °C
1953	22.2 °C
1956	23.1 °C
1958	23.1 °C
1959	22.3 °C
1960	22.4 °C
1961	21.8 °C
1962	22.2 °C
1963	22.7 °C
1964	21.6 °C
1965	20.9 °C
1966	22.7 °C
1967	21.5 °C
1968	20.8 °C
1969	23.2 °C
1970	22.0 °C
1971	22.4 °C
1973	21.4 °C
1974	22.2 °C
1975	20.6 °C
1976	22.3 °C
1978	21.9 °C
1979	22.1 °C
1980	21.8 °C
1981	23.1 °C
1982	22.1 °C
1983	21.7 °C
1984	21.9 °C
1986	21.8 °C
1987	22.1 °C
1988	23.0 °C
1989	21.9 °C
1994	23.5 °C
1995	20.9 °C
1996	22.3 °C
1997	22.0 °C
1998	22.7 °C
1999	21.4 °C
2000	24.1 °C
2001	23.4 °C
2002	23.1 °C
2003	23.2 °C
2004	22.5 °C
2005	22.2 °C
2006	22.7 °C
2007	23.2 °C
2008	21.8 °C
2009	22.2 °C
2010	22.1 °C
2011	21.9 °C
2012	23.2 °C
2013	22.5 °C
2014	22.2 °C
2015	22.4 °C
2016	22.1 °C
2017	22.6 °C
2018	24.0 °C
2019	22.4 °C
2020	23.4 °C
2021	23.4 °C
2023	22.5 °C
2024	23.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Moab'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 Moab (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Monticello Loma, CO Fruita, CO Redlands, CO Grand Junction, CO Orchard Mesa, CO