When to plant in Big Lake, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 2

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 6

1 year in 10 by Oct 14

Frost-free days

222

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Sedro-Woolley · 10.4 km away · station 16 m, town 28 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Big Lake plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 9 – Mar 23	May 4 – May 18	Jun 28
Sweet pepper	Feb 23 – Mar 9	May 4 – May 18	Jul 3
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 29 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 14
Peas	—	Feb 24 – Mar 24	Apr 20
Bush beans	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 15
Carrot	—	Mar 22 – May 3	May 21
Beet	—	Mar 22 – May 3	May 11
Potato	—	Mar 22 – Apr 12	May 31
Kale	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 17
Broccoli	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 26	May 4
Cucumber	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 23
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 18
Winter squash	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jul 23
Sweet corn	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 5 – Mar 26	Jun 3
Garlic	—	Oct 9 – Nov 6 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 24 – Mar 24	Apr 3
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for Big Lake

Big Lake'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
1897	Apr 24
1898	Apr 4
1899	Mar 26
1901	Jul 11
1902	Apr 23
1903	Apr 17
1904	May 11
1906	May 5
1907	Apr 30
1908	Jun 16
1910	Apr 17
1911	Jun 20
1912	Apr 26
1913	Apr 29
1914	May 16
1915	Apr 23
1916	May 12
1917	Apr 22
1918	Apr 27
1919	May 5
1920	May 15
1921	May 5
1922	May 9
1923	Apr 21
1924	Apr 22
1925	Apr 20
1926	Apr 2
1927	Apr 20
1928	Apr 6
1930	May 8
1931	Apr 19
1932	Apr 21
1933	Apr 19
1934	Mar 25
1935	Apr 26
1936	Apr 5
1937	Mar 16
1938	May 6
1939	Apr 15
1940	Mar 21
1941	Mar 24
1942	Apr 4
1943	Apr 25
1944	Apr 17
1945	Apr 13
1946	Apr 5
1947	Apr 3
1948	May 2
1949	Apr 7
1950	May 23
1951	May 1
1952	May 5
1953	Apr 10
1954	May 1
1955	May 6
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 9
1958	May 13
1959	Apr 7
1960	Apr 22
1961	Apr 20
1962	May 7
1963	Apr 2
1964	May 15
1965	May 7
1966	Apr 12
1967	Apr 11
1968	Apr 22
1969	Apr 15
1970	Apr 15
1971	Apr 17
1972	Apr 22
1973	Apr 30
1974	Mar 23
1975	Apr 14
1976	Apr 2
1977	Mar 30
1978	Mar 12
1979	Mar 20
1980	Mar 6
1981	Feb 19
1982	Apr 6
1983	Apr 12
1984	Mar 6
1985	Apr 21
1986	Apr 10
1987	Feb 25
1988	Mar 14
1989	Mar 23
1990	Mar 27
1991	Mar 27
1992	Apr 7
1993	Mar 27
1994	Mar 25
1995	Mar 26
1996	Mar 28
1997	Apr 4
1998	Mar 29
1999	May 10
2000	Mar 8
2001	Apr 11
2002	May 7
2003	Mar 1
2004	Apr 1
2005	Feb 28
2006	Mar 19
2007	Mar 23
2008	Apr 21
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 19
2014	Apr 2
2017	Mar 19
2018	Mar 26
2019	Mar 19
2020	Apr 25
2021	Mar 17
2022	Mar 10
2023	Apr 17
2024	Apr 17
2025	Mar 7
2026	Mar 30

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	191
1898	185
1899	250
1901	78
1902	160
1903	206
1904	182
1906	167
1907	192
1908	91
1910	191
1911	119
1912	152
1913	182
1914	174
1916	141
1917	177
1918	194
1919	145
1920	167
1921	169
1922	172
1923	184
1924	170
1925	164
1926	173
1927	192
1928	188
1931	170
1932	168
1933	194
1934	253
1935	178
1936	209
1937	241
1938	161
1939	192
1940	219
1941	239
1942	190
1943	176
1944	207
1945	191
1946	193
1947	200
1948	144
1949	192
1950	144
1951	177
1952	161
1953	194
1954	175
1955	178
1956	180
1957	188
1958	166
1959	204
1960	169
1961	180
1962	159
1963	230
1965	199
1966	185
1967	205
1968	195
1969	180
1970	193
1971	181
1972	157
1973	184
1974	214
1975	193
1976	199
1977	231
1978	241
1979	232
1980	254
1981	243
1982	210
1983	230
1984	223
1985	169
1986	212
1987	235
1988	227
1989	222
1990	237
1991	214
1992	229
1993	225
1994	222
1996	211
1997	221
1998	203
1999	144
2000	247
2001	257
2002	175
2003	242
2004	232
2005	268
2006	219
2007	223
2008	171
2010	224
2011	168
2017	228
2018	229
2019	203
2020	181
2022	237
2023	191
2024	212
2025	267

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	15.6 °C
1898	15.7 °C
1900	13.8 °C
1901	13.5 °C
1902	13.8 °C
1903	13.9 °C
1904	14.2 °C
1906	14.7 °C
1907	13.9 °C
1908	14.5 °C
1909	13.9 °C
1910	15.2 °C
1911	13.6 °C
1912	14.3 °C
1913	14.0 °C
1914	15.0 °C
1916	14.8 °C
1917	14.6 °C
1918	14.2 °C
1919	13.6 °C
1920	13.4 °C
1921	13.6 °C
1922	13.8 °C
1923	14.9 °C
1924	14.1 °C
1925	14.4 °C
1926	14.7 °C
1927	14.0 °C
1928	14.2 °C
1930	14.1 °C
1931	14.4 °C
1932	13.8 °C
1933	13.2 °C
1934	14.9 °C
1935	14.0 °C
1936	14.6 °C
1937	14.0 °C
1938	14.6 °C
1939	14.4 °C
1940	14.7 °C
1941	14.9 °C
1942	15.1 °C
1943	14.7 °C
1944	16.0 °C
1945	15.0 °C
1946	14.8 °C
1947	14.7 °C
1948	13.9 °C
1949	14.2 °C
1950	13.9 °C
1951	14.6 °C
1952	14.2 °C
1953	14.6 °C
1954	13.4 °C
1955	13.0 °C
1956	14.6 °C
1957	14.8 °C
1958	16.0 °C
1959	14.4 °C
1960	14.3 °C
1961	14.8 °C
1962	14.0 °C
1963	14.4 °C
1964	13.4 °C
1965	13.7 °C
1966	13.6 °C
1967	14.8 °C
1968	13.8 °C
1969	14.1 °C
1970	13.5 °C
1971	14.0 °C
1972	13.7 °C
1973	13.8 °C
1974	14.3 °C
1975	13.8 °C
1976	13.8 °C
1977	14.2 °C
1978	14.8 °C
1979	15.1 °C
1980	14.3 °C
1981	14.5 °C
1983	14.6 °C
1984	14.2 °C
1985	14.6 °C
1986	14.5 °C
1987	15.0 °C
1988	14.3 °C
1989	14.8 °C
1990	15.3 °C
1991	14.6 °C
1992	15.4 °C
1993	15.1 °C
1994	15.4 °C
1996	14.6 °C
1997	15.6 °C
1998	14.8 °C
1999	13.6 °C
2000	14.8 °C
2001	14.2 °C
2002	14.4 °C
2003	15.5 °C
2004	16.0 °C
2005	15.5 °C
2006	14.9 °C
2007	14.5 °C
2008	14.2 °C
2010	14.8 °C
2011	14.2 °C
2017	15.5 °C
2018	15.5 °C
2019	15.5 °C
2020	15.4 °C
2022	15.4 °C
2023	15.2 °C
2024	14.6 °C
2025	15.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Big Lake's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 5 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Clear Lake Mount Vernon Burlington Sedro-Woolley Bryant Stanwood