When to plant in Ritzville, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 24

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

147

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Ritzville 1 Sse · 1.3 km away · station 568 m, town 554 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 29 – Apr 12	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 18
Sweet pepper	Mar 15 – Mar 29	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 23
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 8 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 22
Peas	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 23
Bush beans	—	May 17 – Jun 7	Jul 6
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 3
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 25
Broccoli	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – May 3	Jun 11
Cucumber	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 13
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 8
Winter squash	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Aug 12
Sweet corn	—	May 17 – Jun 7	Jul 16
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 12 – May 3	Jul 11
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 6
Basil	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 20

Plan all 65 crops for Ritzville

Ritzville'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
1916	May 29
1917	May 17
1918	May 25
1919	Jun 1
1920	Jun 9
1921	May 27
1922	May 22
1923	May 17
1924	May 26
1926	Jun 9
1927	May 26
1928	May 3
1929	May 10
1930	May 25
1931	May 20
1932	May 25
1933	Jun 10
1934	May 9
1935	May 11
1936	Apr 8
1937	May 5
1938	May 9
1939	Jun 1
1940	May 26
1941	May 19
1942	May 17
1943	May 17
1944	May 22
1945	Apr 29
1946	May 1
1947	Apr 30
1949	May 5
1950	May 28
1951	Jun 1
1952	Jun 13
1953	May 22
1954	Jun 5
1955	May 31
1956	May 13
1957	Apr 26
1958	May 13
1959	May 11
1960	May 25
1961	May 11
1962	Jun 4
1963	May 16
1964	May 25
1965	May 17
1966	May 23
1967	May 25
1968	May 6
1969	May 3
1970	May 14
1971	May 20
1972	May 1
1973	Jun 10
1974	May 20
1975	May 20
1976	Jun 2
1977	May 29
1978	May 30
1979	May 29
1980	Apr 12
1981	May 9
1982	May 27
1983	May 9
1984	Jun 1
1985	May 12
1986	May 16
1987	May 20
1988	May 4
1989	Apr 3
1990	May 9
1991	Jun 5
1992	May 22
1993	Apr 20
1994	May 3
1995	Apr 22
1996	May 9
1997	May 8
1998	Apr 26
1999	May 15
2000	May 7
2001	May 29
2002	May 11
2003	May 19
2004	Apr 25
2005	Apr 19
2006	May 14
2007	May 6
2008	May 10
2009	May 14
2010	May 22
2011	May 8
2012	May 11
2013	May 23
2014	Apr 29
2015	May 7
2016	Jun 15
2017	May 14
2018	Apr 23
2019	May 3
2020	May 7
2021	May 10
2022	May 20
2023	Apr 25
2024	May 3
2025	Apr 23
2026	May 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1916	125
1917	152
1918	134
1919	118
1920	106
1921	107
1922	108
1923	153
1924	116
1926	100
1928	138
1929	148
1930	136
1931	144
1932	136
1933	105
1934	137
1935	156
1936	159
1937	153
1938	157
1939	126
1940	157
1941	123
1942	147
1943	147
1944	117
1945	171
1946	143
1950	122
1951	116
1952	123
1953	124
1954	115
1955	108
1956	131
1957	145
1958	133
1959	143
1960	119
1961	140
1962	83
1963	155
1964	115
1966	138
1967	146
1968	148
1969	133
1970	117
1971	132
1972	145
1973	112
1974	129
1975	146
1976	123
1977	115
1978	108
1979	141
1980	181
1981	136
1982	126
1983	133
1984	134
1985	138
1986	149
1987	129
1988	136
1989	182
1990	149
1991	133
1992	92
1993	153
1994	164
1995	182
1996	135
1997	150
1998	171
1999	134
2000	138
2001	133
2002	142
2003	143
2004	181
2005	193
2006	159
2007	172
2008	135
2009	138
2010	146
2011	168
2012	144
2013	143
2014	180
2015	178
2016	118
2017	140
2018	162
2019	148
2020	160
2021	151
2022	155
2023	184
2024	150
2025	165

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1916	15.1 °C
1917	16.0 °C
1918	17.0 °C
1919	16.3 °C
1920	15.6 °C
1921	16.0 °C
1922	17.2 °C
1923	17.2 °C
1924	17.4 °C
1925	17.5 °C
1926	16.2 °C
1927	15.6 °C
1928	16.8 °C
1929	16.0 °C
1930	17.4 °C
1931	17.2 °C
1932	16.7 °C
1933	15.9 °C
1934	17.7 °C
1935	16.5 °C
1936	17.7 °C
1937	16.6 °C
1938	17.5 °C
1939	17.4 °C
1940	17.6 °C
1941	16.5 °C
1942	16.6 °C
1943	15.9 °C
1944	16.7 °C
1945	16.1 °C
1946	16.7 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	16.2 °C
1951	16.6 °C
1952	17.1 °C
1953	15.7 °C
1954	14.9 °C
1955	15.1 °C
1956	17.1 °C
1957	16.7 °C
1958	17.9 °C
1959	15.4 °C
1960	16.2 °C
1961	17.3 °C
1962	15.7 °C
1963	16.6 °C
1964	15.3 °C
1966	15.9 °C
1967	16.8 °C
1968	15.3 °C
1969	15.8 °C
1970	15.0 °C
1971	15.3 °C
1972	14.9 °C
1973	15.7 °C
1974	15.4 °C
1975	14.9 °C
1976	14.9 °C
1977	15.5 °C
1978	15.0 °C
1979	16.4 °C
1980	15.0 °C
1981	15.0 °C
1982	15.0 °C
1983	15.2 °C
1984	14.1 °C
1985	15.8 °C
1986	15.8 °C
1987	17.3 °C
1988	15.9 °C
1989	16.4 °C
1990	16.8 °C
1991	15.1 °C
1992	16.2 °C
1993	15.0 °C
1994	16.9 °C
1995	15.4 °C
1996	14.9 °C
1997	15.6 °C
1998	17.2 °C
1999	14.9 °C
2000	15.4 °C
2001	16.0 °C
2002	15.5 °C
2003	16.6 °C
2004	16.5 °C
2005	15.8 °C
2006	16.3 °C
2007	17.2 °C
2008	15.1 °C
2009	16.5 °C
2010	14.7 °C
2011	14.7 °C
2012	16.0 °C
2013	16.6 °C
2014	17.2 °C
2015	17.4 °C
2016	16.6 °C
2017	16.9 °C
2018	16.2 °C
2019	16.1 °C
2020	15.9 °C
2021	17.2 °C
2022	15.8 °C
2023	17.1 °C
2024	16.9 °C
2025	17.9 °C
2026	17.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1916, Ritzville'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 Ritzville 1 Sse (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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