When to plant in Cheney, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 29

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

162

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Spokane Intl Ap · 15.4 km away · station 718 m, town 717 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Cheney plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 16 – Mar 30	May 11 – May 25	Jul 5
Sweet pepper	Mar 2 – Mar 16	May 11 – May 25	Jul 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 25 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 11
Peas	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 25
Bush beans	—	May 4 – May 25	Jun 23
Carrot	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 14
Beet	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 4
Potato	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 24
Kale	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 20
Broccoli	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 22	May 31
Cucumber	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 25
Winter squash	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jul 30
Sweet corn	—	May 4 – May 25	Jul 3
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 30
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 8
Basil	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 11 – May 25	Jul 7

Plan all 65 crops for Cheney

Cheney'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
1890	Apr 15
1891	May 9
1892	May 3
1893	Apr 18
1894	May 2
1895	Apr 20
1896	Apr 20
1897	Apr 7
1898	Apr 19
1899	May 14
1900	Apr 9
1901	Apr 25
1902	Apr 20
1903	Apr 29
1904	Apr 24
1905	May 1
1906	Apr 12
1907	Apr 30
1908	Apr 26
1909	Apr 30
1910	Apr 15
1911	Apr 17
1912	Apr 15
1913	Apr 29
1914	Apr 29
1915	Apr 9
1916	May 12
1917	Apr 29
1918	Apr 18
1919	Apr 15
1920	Apr 21
1921	Apr 23
1922	May 10
1923	Apr 14
1924	Apr 26
1925	Apr 25
1926	Apr 7
1927	Apr 21
1928	Apr 20
1929	Apr 18
1930	Apr 10
1931	Apr 19
1932	Mar 26
1933	Apr 13
1934	Apr 15
1935	Apr 28
1936	Apr 5
1937	Mar 27
1938	Apr 3
1939	Apr 14
1940	Mar 13
1941	Apr 19
1942	May 16
1943	May 15
1944	May 2
1945	Apr 28
1946	May 1
1947	Apr 23
1948	May 1
1949	May 4
1950	May 6
1951	Apr 22
1952	May 5
1953	May 1
1954	May 2
1955	May 14
1956	May 13
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 27
1959	May 11
1960	May 22
1961	Apr 21
1962	May 4
1963	May 11
1964	May 25
1965	May 7
1966	May 22
1967	May 25
1968	May 5
1969	May 4
1970	Apr 29
1971	Apr 18
1972	May 1
1973	Apr 29
1974	May 16
1975	May 4
1976	May 18
1977	Apr 20
1978	May 5
1979	Apr 21
1980	Apr 7
1981	May 6
1982	May 8
1983	May 13
1984	May 7
1985	May 12
1986	May 16
1987	May 20
1988	May 2
1989	Apr 9
1990	May 8
1991	May 10
1992	May 11
1993	Apr 13
1994	Apr 14
1995	Apr 22
1996	May 10
1997	Apr 21
1998	Apr 25
1999	May 11
2000	May 6
2001	May 6
2002	May 10
2003	May 19
2004	Apr 24
2005	Apr 18
2006	May 13
2007	May 5
2008	May 2
2009	Apr 26
2010	May 24
2011	May 4
2012	May 10
2013	May 1
2014	Apr 28
2015	Apr 15
2016	Mar 29
2017	Apr 16
2018	Apr 22
2019	Apr 29
2020	Apr 13
2021	Apr 12
2022	Apr 22
2023	Apr 20
2024	Apr 30

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1890	175
1891	145
1892	165
1893	177
1894	157
1895	142
1896	167
1897	189
1898	167
1899	150
1900	169
1901	190
1902	160
1903	153
1904	175
1905	160
1906	189
1907	161
1908	151
1909	160
1910	193
1911	160
1912	174
1913	168
1914	176
1915	179
1916	142
1917	170
1918	186
1919	166
1920	178
1921	160
1922	171
1923	194
1924	162
1925	158
1926	168
1927	191
1928	175
1929	164
1930	183
1931	171
1932	196
1933	164
1934	162
1935	174
1936	198
1937	220
1938	196
1939	176
1940	234
1941	165
1942	124
1943	151
1944	192
1945	151
1946	161
1947	184
1948	157
1949	156
1950	143
1951	156
1952	179
1953	175
1954	151
1955	144
1956	158
1957	184
1958	149
1959	141
1960	121
1961	162
1962	164
1963	160
1964	130
1965	131
1966	139
1967	142
1968	149
1969	151
1970	136
1971	164
1972	146
1973	154
1974	141
1975	170
1976	138
1977	154
1978	135
1979	191
1980	184
1981	141
1982	152
1983	128
1984	139
1985	138
1986	147
1987	142
1988	167
1989	176
1990	150
1991	134
1992	127
1993	161
1994	181
1995	179
1996	135
1997	168
1998	172
1999	138
2000	138
2001	152
2002	143
2003	157
2004	183
2005	197
2006	148
2007	146
2008	158
2009	162
2010	145
2011	172
2012	147
2013	164
2014	187
2015	201
2016	195
2017	180
2018	163
2019	151
2020	184
2021	181
2022	183
2023	187
2024	170

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1890	16.0 °C
1891	16.6 °C
1892	15.2 °C
1893	14.7 °C
1894	15.9 °C
1895	15.2 °C
1896	15.5 °C
1897	16.5 °C
1898	16.7 °C
1899	14.9 °C
1900	16.2 °C
1901	15.2 °C
1902	14.9 °C
1903	15.0 °C
1904	16.4 °C
1905	16.1 °C
1906	16.8 °C
1907	15.0 °C
1908	16.0 °C
1909	15.1 °C
1910	16.4 °C
1911	15.3 °C
1912	15.3 °C
1913	15.8 °C
1914	16.5 °C
1915	16.7 °C
1916	15.2 °C
1917	16.1 °C
1918	16.9 °C
1919	16.4 °C
1920	15.8 °C
1921	15.8 °C
1922	17.1 °C
1923	16.5 °C
1924	16.9 °C
1925	17.6 °C
1926	16.6 °C
1927	15.8 °C
1928	17.0 °C
1929	16.1 °C
1930	17.2 °C
1931	17.3 °C
1932	16.7 °C
1933	15.9 °C
1934	17.7 °C
1935	16.0 °C
1936	17.7 °C
1937	16.4 °C
1938	17.8 °C
1939	17.3 °C
1940	18.1 °C
1941	16.3 °C
1942	16.1 °C
1943	15.6 °C
1944	16.1 °C
1945	15.5 °C
1946	15.8 °C
1947	16.1 °C
1948	14.7 °C
1949	16.4 °C
1950	15.4 °C
1951	15.9 °C
1952	16.5 °C
1953	15.1 °C
1954	14.2 °C
1955	14.3 °C
1956	16.2 °C
1957	16.1 °C
1958	17.3 °C
1959	14.6 °C
1960	15.6 °C
1961	16.2 °C
1962	15.2 °C
1963	15.9 °C
1964	14.1 °C
1965	14.9 °C
1966	15.7 °C
1967	16.4 °C
1968	14.9 °C
1969	15.8 °C
1970	15.6 °C
1971	15.5 °C
1972	15.2 °C
1973	16.0 °C
1974	15.5 °C
1975	14.8 °C
1976	15.2 °C
1977	15.6 °C
1978	14.7 °C
1979	16.2 °C
1980	15.3 °C
1981	14.7 °C
1982	15.7 °C
1983	15.6 °C
1984	14.6 °C
1985	15.5 °C
1986	15.4 °C
1987	16.4 °C
1988	15.6 °C
1989	15.6 °C
1990	16.2 °C
1991	15.1 °C
1992	16.5 °C
1993	14.5 °C
1994	16.7 °C
1995	15.1 °C
1996	14.7 °C
1997	15.6 °C
1998	17.3 °C
1999	14.8 °C
2000	15.0 °C
2001	15.6 °C
2002	15.2 °C
2003	16.3 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	15.8 °C
2006	16.6 °C
2007	16.4 °C
2008	15.6 °C
2009	16.6 °C
2010	15.1 °C
2011	15.1 °C
2012	16.4 °C
2013	16.9 °C
2014	17.2 °C
2015	17.9 °C
2016	17.2 °C
2017	17.4 °C
2018	17.0 °C
2019	16.8 °C
2020	16.6 °C
2021	18.1 °C
2022	16.6 °C
2023	17.9 °C
2024	18.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1890, Cheney's last spring frost has come about 1 day later per decade, on average. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Medical Lake Fairchild Air Force Base Airway Heights Spokane Town and Country Millwood