When to plant in Palouse, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 15

Frost-free days

150

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Pullman 2 Nw · 18.7 km away · station 767 m, town 742 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 27 – Apr 10	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 16
Sweet pepper	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 23
Bush beans	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 4
Carrot	—	Apr 17 – May 29	Jun 16
Beet	—	Apr 17 – May 29	Jun 6
Potato	—	Apr 17 – May 8	Jun 26
Kale	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 21
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 6
Winter squash	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Aug 10
Sweet corn	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 6
Basil	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 18

Plan all 65 crops for Palouse

Palouse'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
1941	Apr 20
1942	May 17
1943	May 15
1944	May 20
1945	May 7
1946	May 15
1947	Apr 22
1948	May 3
1949	Jun 17
1952	May 30
1953	May 21
1954	May 14
1955	May 31
1956	May 13
1957	Apr 26
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 7
1960	May 23
1961	May 4
1962	Jun 4
1963	May 11
1964	May 23
1965	May 8
1966	May 23
1967	May 12
1968	May 8
1969	May 4
1970	May 1
1971	May 20
1972	May 1
1973	May 27
1974	May 16
1975	May 24
1976	May 19
1977	May 29
1978	May 30
1979	Apr 20
1980	Apr 11
1981	May 8
1982	May 27
1983	May 16
1984	May 4
1985	May 13
1986	May 23
1987	May 21
1988	May 2
1989	May 12
1990	May 19
1991	Jun 4
1992	May 21
1993	Apr 6
1994	Apr 14
1995	Apr 21
1998	May 16
1999	May 16
2001	May 7
2002	May 11
2003	May 18
2004	May 14
2005	May 1
2006	May 13
2007	May 6
2008	May 2
2010	May 24
2011	May 4
2012	May 12
2013	May 24
2014	May 12
2015	May 8
2016	Mar 30
2017	Apr 12
2018	Apr 23
2019	May 1
2020	May 8
2021	May 9
2022	May 10
2023	Apr 20
2024	May 2
2025	May 5
2026	Apr 26

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1941	152
1942	103
1943	155
1944	120
1945	84
1946	93
1947	182
1948	124
1949	86
1952	136
1953	125
1954	138
1955	144
1956	113
1957	145
1958	147
1959	146
1960	120
1961	156
1962	95
1963	160
1964	109
1965	131
1966	132
1967	159
1968	146
1969	133
1970	133
1971	116
1972	146
1973	127
1974	133
1975	116
1976	111
1977	126
1978	110
1979	190
1980	180
1981	137
1982	126
1983	125
1984	131
1985	131
1986	131
1987	140
1988	138
1989	143
1990	139
1991	109
1992	119
1993	168
1994	174
1995	183
1998	151
2001	149
2003	144
2004	163
2006	124
2007	140
2008	143
2010	144
2011	173
2012	122
2013	132
2014	181
2015	167
2016	167
2017	156
2018	148
2019	150
2020	165
2021	150
2022	168
2023	188
2024	150
2025	161

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1941	14.4 °C
1942	14.0 °C
1943	14.0 °C
1944	14.3 °C
1945	13.6 °C
1946	14.3 °C
1947	14.6 °C
1948	13.7 °C
1949	15.4 °C
1952	14.9 °C
1953	13.5 °C
1954	13.1 °C
1955	13.4 °C
1956	15.3 °C
1957	14.7 °C
1958	16.1 °C
1959	13.7 °C
1960	14.5 °C
1961	15.1 °C
1962	13.8 °C
1963	14.6 °C
1964	13.1 °C
1965	14.1 °C
1966	14.4 °C
1967	15.1 °C
1968	14.3 °C
1969	14.9 °C
1970	14.2 °C
1971	14.0 °C
1972	14.2 °C
1973	14.6 °C
1975	13.4 °C
1976	13.6 °C
1977	14.6 °C
1978	13.5 °C
1979	14.8 °C
1980	13.6 °C
1981	13.7 °C
1982	13.9 °C
1983	13.9 °C
1984	13.9 °C
1985	14.7 °C
1986	14.6 °C
1987	15.8 °C
1988	14.6 °C
1989	14.7 °C
1990	15.7 °C
1991	14.4 °C
1992	15.8 °C
1993	14.5 °C
1994	16.1 °C
1995	14.1 °C
1996	14.4 °C
1997	14.8 °C
1998	16.0 °C
1999	13.6 °C
2001	15.4 °C
2002	14.6 °C
2003	15.4 °C
2004	15.2 °C
2005	14.8 °C
2006	15.5 °C
2007	15.2 °C
2008	14.7 °C
2010	14.1 °C
2011	13.8 °C
2012	15.2 °C
2013	15.6 °C
2014	16.1 °C
2015	16.6 °C
2016	15.5 °C
2017	16.1 °C
2018	15.5 °C
2019	15.5 °C
2020	15.3 °C
2021	16.7 °C
2022	15.2 °C
2023	16.5 °C
2024	15.9 °C
2025	17.2 °C
2026	16.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1941, Palouse'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 Pullman 2 Nw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Moscow, ID Pullman Colfax Plummer, ID Clarkston Lewiston, ID