When to plant in Fords Prairie, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 4

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 16

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 1

1 year in 10 by Oct 12

Frost-free days

201

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Centralia · 4.0 km away · station 56 m, town 54 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Fords Prairie 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)	Feb 12 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 28
Peas	—	Mar 5 – Apr 2	Apr 29
Bush beans	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 16
Carrot	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 25
Beet	—	Mar 19 – Apr 30	May 8
Potato	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	Jun 4
Kale	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 1
Broccoli	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Mar 19 – Apr 9	May 18
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 27 – May 18	Jun 26
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 19 – Apr 9	Jun 17
Garlic	—	Oct 13 – Nov 10 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 5 – Apr 2	Apr 12
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for Fords Prairie

Fords Prairie'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
1902	Apr 23
1903	Jun 3
1905	May 18
1906	May 17
1907	May 1
1908	Apr 29
1909	May 22
1910	May 16
1911	Jun 20
1912	Apr 27
1913	Apr 30
1914	May 28
1915	Apr 22
1916	May 13
1917	May 18
1918	May 25
1919	Jun 30
1920	May 23
1921	May 27
1922	May 19
1925	Apr 27
1926	Apr 6
1927	Apr 28
1928	Apr 20
1929	Apr 15
1930	May 8
1931	Apr 20
1932	May 10
1933	Jun 10
1934	Apr 3
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 4
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 6
1939	Apr 30
1940	Mar 21
1941	Apr 19
1942	Apr 8
1943	Apr 26
1944	May 10
1945	Apr 28
1946	Apr 27
1947	Mar 27
1948	May 2
1949	May 5
1950	May 7
1951	Apr 21
1952	May 4
1953	Apr 24
1954	May 1
1955	May 9
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 7
1958	May 13
1959	May 11
1960	Apr 22
1961	Apr 20
1962	Apr 11
1963	May 8
1964	May 15
1965	May 7
1966	May 28
1967	Apr 29
1968	Apr 22
1969	May 4
1970	May 11
1971	Apr 24
1972	May 1
1973	Apr 29
1974	Apr 13
1975	May 25
1976	Apr 26
1977	Apr 19
1978	May 5
1979	Apr 7
1980	Apr 11
1981	Apr 14
1982	Apr 25
1984	Apr 26
1985	May 12
1986	Apr 30
1987	Apr 20
1988	Mar 28
1989	Mar 23
1990	Mar 28
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 23
1993	Apr 14
1994	Mar 26
1995	Apr 19
1996	May 9
1997	Apr 12
1998	Mar 29
1999	Apr 6
2000	Mar 15
2001	Apr 14
2002	May 8
2003	Apr 4
2004	Apr 2
2005	Apr 12
2006	May 3
2007	Apr 20
2008	Apr 26
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 17
2013	May 1
2014	Mar 31
2015	Apr 16
2016	Apr 25
2017	Apr 28
2018	Apr 4
2019	Apr 28
2020	Apr 13
2021	Apr 14

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	146
1903	161
1905	152
1906	155
1907	191
1908	139
1909	147
1910	118
1911	87
1912	161
1913	155
1914	170
1915	171
1916	142
1917	151
1918	149
1919	90
1920	159
1921	107
1925	167
1926	170
1927	185
1928	173
1929	164
1930	157
1931	166
1932	166
1933	126
1934	174
1935	187
1936	200
1937	227
1938	191
1939	177
1940	219
1941	214
1942	202
1943	188
1944	183
1945	172
1946	171
1947	238
1948	167
1949	129
1950	145
1951	192
1952	163
1953	190
1954	153
1955	186
1956	180
1957	179
1958	163
1959	170
1960	195
1961	182
1962	225
1963	195
1964	163
1965	199
1966	140
1967	186
1968	191
1969	161
1970	124
1971	174
1972	147
1973	185
1974	175
1975	150
1976	174
1977	197
1979	214
1980	194
1981	182
1982	176
1984	173
1985	148
1986	193
1987	210
1988	213
1989	223
1990	191
1991	199
1992	174
1993	206
1994	221
1996	163
1997	235
1998	263
1999	241
2000	239
2001	206
2002	156
2003	209
2004	215
2005	197
2006	179
2007	187
2008	211
2010	224
2011	161
2013	180
2014	224
2015	201
2016	169
2017	168
2018	218
2019	155
2020	194
2021	180

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1902	14.1 °C
1903	14.1 °C
1905	15.0 °C
1906	15.0 °C
1907	14.6 °C
1908	14.6 °C
1909	14.1 °C
1910	14.2 °C
1911	13.6 °C
1912	14.6 °C
1913	14.8 °C
1914	14.9 °C
1915	14.8 °C
1916	13.7 °C
1917	14.1 °C
1918	14.8 °C
1919	14.1 °C
1920	13.6 °C
1921	13.9 °C
1922	14.4 °C
1925	15.8 °C
1926	16.2 °C
1927	15.1 °C
1928	15.8 °C
1929	15.0 °C
1930	15.3 °C
1931	15.8 °C
1932	14.9 °C
1933	13.7 °C
1934	16.3 °C
1935	15.3 °C
1936	15.8 °C
1937	15.2 °C
1938	16.1 °C
1939	15.6 °C
1940	16.5 °C
1941	16.0 °C
1942	15.8 °C
1943	15.6 °C
1944	15.6 °C
1945	15.0 °C
1946	16.1 °C
1947	16.2 °C
1948	15.4 °C
1949	15.7 °C
1950	15.1 °C
1951	15.9 °C
1952	15.7 °C
1953	14.6 °C
1954	13.2 °C
1955	13.6 °C
1956	15.6 °C
1957	15.9 °C
1958	16.8 °C
1959	14.4 °C
1960	14.3 °C
1961	15.4 °C
1962	14.4 °C
1963	14.8 °C
1964	14.0 °C
1965	15.0 °C
1966	15.2 °C
1967	16.0 °C
1968	14.9 °C
1969	15.5 °C
1970	14.8 °C
1971	15.0 °C
1972	15.1 °C
1973	15.3 °C
1974	15.3 °C
1975	14.6 °C
1976	14.7 °C
1977	15.3 °C
1978	15.5 °C
1979	15.8 °C
1980	15.1 °C
1981	15.5 °C
1982	15.5 °C
1983	15.5 °C
1984	15.0 °C
1985	16.0 °C
1986	15.7 °C
1987	16.7 °C
1988	15.6 °C
1989	15.9 °C
1990	16.5 °C
1991	15.6 °C
1992	16.7 °C
1993	15.8 °C
1994	16.2 °C
1995	16.2 °C
1996	15.7 °C
1997	16.6 °C
1998	17.0 °C
1999	16.1 °C
2000	16.3 °C
2001	15.5 °C
2002	15.3 °C
2005	16.2 °C
2006	16.3 °C
2007	15.3 °C
2008	15.3 °C
2010	15.2 °C
2011	14.1 °C
2013	15.1 °C
2014	15.7 °C
2015	15.9 °C
2016	15.7 °C
2017	15.6 °C
2018	16.1 °C
2019	15.8 °C
2020	15.8 °C
2021	16.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Fords Prairie's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Centralia Grand Mound Chehalis Rochester Tenino Napavine