When to plant in Ellensburg, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 5

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Ellensburg · 3.1 km away · station 451 m, town 470 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 16 – May 30	Jul 10
Sweet pepper	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 16 – May 30	Jul 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 3 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 17
Peas	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 20
Bush beans	—	May 9 – May 30	Jun 28
Carrot	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 13
Beet	—	Apr 11 – May 23	May 31
Potato	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 23
Kale	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 20
Broccoli	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 6
Cucumber	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jul 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jun 30
Winter squash	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Aug 4
Sweet corn	—	May 9 – May 30	Jul 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jul 6
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 3
Basil	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 16 – May 30	Jul 12

Plan all 65 crops for Ellensburg

Ellensburg'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
1894	May 18
1895	May 15
1896	May 5
1897	Apr 29
1898	May 31
1899	May 10
1900	May 30
1901	Jun 6
1902	May 5
1903	May 11
1904	May 25
1905	May 19
1906	Jun 14
1907	May 2
1908	May 17
1909	May 10
1910	May 16
1911	May 11
1912	Apr 27
1913	May 8
1914	May 10
1915	May 4
1916	May 22
1917	May 17
1918	Jun 3
1919	Jun 7
1920	May 30
1921	May 13
1922	May 26
1923	May 18
1924	May 4
1925	May 3
1926	May 24
1927	May 26
1928	May 3
1929	Jun 3
1930	May 26
1931	Apr 21
1932	Apr 20
1933	May 9
1934	May 9
1935	Apr 29
1936	Apr 5
1937	May 23
1939	May 22
1940	May 13
1941	May 9
1954	Jun 18
1955	May 14
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 20
1958	May 14
1959	May 12
1960	Apr 25
1961	May 6
1962	May 5
1963	May 16
1964	May 23
1965	May 17
1966	Apr 19
1967	Apr 28
1968	May 2
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 14
1971	Apr 25
1972	May 1
1974	May 16
1975	May 4
1976	Apr 23
1977	May 6
1978	May 23
1979	Apr 25
1980	Jun 4
1982	May 30
1983	May 13
1984	Jun 2
1985	May 15
1986	May 15
1987	May 21
1988	May 17
1989	May 24
1990	Apr 30
1991	May 1
1992	May 12
1993	Apr 27
1994	May 3
1995	Apr 19
1996	May 11
1997	May 7
1998	Apr 20
1999	May 14
2000	May 10
2001	May 6
2002	May 8
2003	May 19
2004	Apr 25
2005	Apr 18
2006	May 10
2007	Apr 21
2009	May 1
2010	May 9
2011	May 17
2014	Jul 4
2015	May 7
2016	Apr 6
2017	May 15
2018	Apr 24
2019	May 1
2020	May 4
2021	Apr 26
2022	May 13
2023	Apr 25
2024	May 30
2025	May 5

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	68
1898	120
1899	146
1900	118
1901	100
1902	134
1903	137
1904	116
1905	131
1906	103
1907	133
1908	130
1909	130
1910	99
1911	129
1912	147
1913	121
1914	120
1915	147
1916	114
1917	134
1918	113
1919	106
1920	135
1921	120
1922	133
1923	126
1924	145
1925	150
1926	119
1927	130
1928	135
1929	116
1930	135
1931	166
1932	153
1933	137
1934	138
1935	150
1936	162
1937	122
1939	130
1940	148
1954	102
1955	130
1956	144
1957	151
1958	132
1959	141
1960	118
1961	138
1962	129
1963	155
1964	126
1965	122
1966	172
1967	148
1968	139
1969	138
1970	117
1971	142
1972	143
1974	135
1975	136
1976	174
1977	148
1978	131
1979	160
1982	107
1983	128
1984	103
1985	135
1986	132
1987	140
1989	131
1990	158
1991	156
1992	117
1993	147
1994	154
1995	155
1996	133
1997	151
1998	172
1999	135
2000	135
2001	150
2002	145
2003	158
2004	181
2006	151
2007	160
2009	157
2010	149
2011	160
2015	142
2016	188
2018	161
2019	149
2020	170
2021	162
2022	158
2023	157
2024	122
2025	153

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	14.5 °C
1898	16.0 °C
1899	13.9 °C
1900	15.0 °C
1901	13.9 °C
1902	14.0 °C
1903	14.2 °C
1904	15.0 °C
1905	15.4 °C
1906	16.2 °C
1907	15.0 °C
1908	15.2 °C
1909	14.7 °C
1910	15.4 °C
1911	14.4 °C
1912	15.1 °C
1913	14.9 °C
1914	15.1 °C
1915	16.2 °C
1916	14.9 °C
1917	15.0 °C
1918	16.1 °C
1919	15.5 °C
1920	15.3 °C
1921	15.7 °C
1922	16.8 °C
1923	16.7 °C
1924	17.0 °C
1925	17.2 °C
1926	15.7 °C
1927	15.3 °C
1928	16.5 °C
1929	15.6 °C
1930	16.4 °C
1931	16.2 °C
1932	15.9 °C
1933	15.2 °C
1934	17.7 °C
1935	15.9 °C
1936	16.4 °C
1937	15.2 °C
1939	15.8 °C
1940	16.4 °C
1954	14.2 °C
1955	14.1 °C
1956	15.9 °C
1957	15.8 °C
1958	17.1 °C
1959	14.6 °C
1960	15.2 °C
1961	16.5 °C
1962	15.5 °C
1963	15.4 °C
1964	14.4 °C
1965	15.5 °C
1966	15.8 °C
1967	16.7 °C
1968	15.6 °C
1969	16.3 °C
1970	15.4 °C
1971	15.5 °C
1972	15.0 °C
1974	15.9 °C
1975	15.2 °C
1976	15.2 °C
1977	16.2 °C
1978	15.1 °C
1979	16.3 °C
1982	15.0 °C
1983	14.9 °C
1984	14.3 °C
1985	15.0 °C
1986	15.3 °C
1987	16.1 °C
1989	15.4 °C
1990	16.2 °C
1991	15.3 °C
1992	16.1 °C
1993	14.9 °C
1994	16.6 °C
1995	15.7 °C
1996	15.3 °C
1997	15.7 °C
1998	16.9 °C
1999	14.7 °C
2000	15.8 °C
2001	16.0 °C
2002	15.7 °C
2003	16.6 °C
2004	16.7 °C
2006	16.6 °C
2007	16.6 °C
2009	17.0 °C
2010	15.3 °C
2011	14.8 °C
2012	15.7 °C
2015	17.5 °C
2016	16.9 °C
2018	16.4 °C
2019	16.4 °C
2020	16.2 °C
2021	16.8 °C
2022	15.6 °C
2023	16.8 °C
2024	16.3 °C
2025	17.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Ellensburg'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 Ellensburg (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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