Arkansas’s average last spring frost at 32°F falls somewhere between March 12 and March 28, and the first fall frost at that same threshold arrives between November 7 and November 20, based on NOAA’s 1991-2020 climate normals. That’s a range, not a single date, because it covers a state that stretches from Ozark ridgelines to Delta lowland. Which end of that range applies to you depends on where you garden and what temperature actually damages your plants.
The frost dates for Arkansas
The numbers above come from a specific weather station (USW00013963) and represent the window during which a 32°F freeze has between a 30% and 70% chance of occurring on any given day. That’s the standard way climatologists express a frost date: not a fixed calendar day, but a probability band. Early March 12 sits at the aggressive end of that band, while March 28 sits at the cautious end. Same logic applies in fall: November 7 is the earlier, riskier date, and November 20 is the later, safer one.
Here’s where it gets more complicated for anyone growing tomatoes, peppers, or basil. A 32°F freeze kills plant tissue outright, but a lighter frost at 36°F can still damage tender seedlings well before the ground actually freezes. The National Weather Service office covering Little Rock publishes separate dates for that threshold: April 3 for the last spring occurrence and October 31 for the first fall occurrence. That’s a full one to three weeks tighter than the 32°F window, and it applies specifically to the Little Rock station, not the entire state.
| Threshold | Last spring date | First fall date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32°F (freeze, statewide range) | March 12 – March 28 | November 7 – November 20 | NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 Climate Normals |
| 36°F (light frost, Little Rock only) | April 3 | October 31 | NWS Little Rock |
If you’re growing anything that can’t tolerate a light frost, cold-sensitive annuals, seedlings started indoors, basil, that’s grown outdoors too early, plan around the 36°F dates from Little Rock as a baseline, then adjust earlier if you’re north of the city or at higher elevation. If your crop can shrug off a light frost (kale, spinach, most root vegetables), the 32°F range matters more, and you have real flexibility built into those two to three extra weeks on either side.
How long the growing season actually is here
Do the math on the 32°F dates and Arkansas’s frost-free season runs somewhere between 224 and 253 days, depending on which end of the range describes your location. Take the earliest possible last frost (March 12) paired with the latest possible first fall frost (November 20), and you get 253 frost-free days. Flip it around, latest spring frost (March 28) and earliest fall frost (November 7), and the season shrinks to 224 days. That’s a 29-day swing built into the same state’s climate normals, which tells you something important: “Arkansas’s growing season” isn’t one number, it’s a range wide enough to matter for succession planting.
Put that in perspective. A difference of nearly a month is enough to fit in an entire second planting of bush beans, or the difference between harvesting a full crop of sweet corn versus watching an early freeze cut it short. Gardeners in the state’s northern counties and higher elevations, closer to the Ozark Plateau, should generally plan around the shorter end of that range. Those in the southern and eastern lowlands, closer to the Delta and the Gulf-influenced air masses that move up from Louisiana, tend to land closer to the longer end.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map places Arkansas across a 6b to 8a range, based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, a single variable that measures how cold winters get, not when frost starts or ends. It’s a useful cross-check for choosing perennials and woody plants that need to survive winter dormancy, but it won’t tell you your last frost date. For that, the freeze probability data above is the relevant tool. Because the hardiness range spans three zones across the state, treat 6b-8a as a description of Arkansas’s overall spread rather than a number you can apply to any one yard; a gardener near the Ozarks and one near the Delta are working with meaningfully different winter minimums even though they share a state line.
Turning these dates into a sowing date
Seed packets and planting calendars almost always reference “weeks before or after your last frost date.” The trouble in Arkansas is deciding which last frost date to use, since you’ve got two legitimate thresholds sitting three weeks apart. For tender, frost-sensitive transplants, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, the safer play is counting from the 36°F Little Rock date (April 3), then adjusting a few days earlier or later based on how your microclimate compares to that reference city. Start those seeds indoors six to eight weeks before that date, and hold off transplanting outside until you’re past it with a comfortable margin.
Cold-hardy crops change the math. Lettuce, spinach, peas, and brassicas can handle a light frost without much damage, so the 32°F range becomes the more useful anchor. Direct-sowing peas or spinach two to three weeks before the earliest date in that range (March 12) is common practice for gardeners willing to accept some risk in exchange for an earlier harvest. Gardeners who’d rather not gamble wait until closer to March 28, sacrificing a couple of weeks of growing time for more certainty.
Fall planting works in reverse, and it’s where a lot of home gardeners get caught out. Count backward from the first fall frost to figure out your last safe sowing date for a crop that needs, say, 70 days to mature. Using the earliest fall frost date (November 7) as your target gives you a safety margin; using the latest (November 20) is riskier because an early freeze that year could catch an unfinished crop. For anything frost-tender still in the ground going into October, the 36°F Little Rock date (October 31) is your first warning sign, not the final word, since a harder freeze at 32°F could still be one to three weeks away depending on where you are in the state.
None of this replaces watching your own local forecast once you’re within a few weeks of either date. Climate normals describe an average year, not this year, and a single unusual cold snap or unusually mild stretch can shift the real date by a week or more in either direction.
Why your own garden differs from this figure
Every one of the dates above comes from official weather stations, points on a map, not from your backyard. Elevation is the biggest factor working against a single statewide number: cold air is heavier than warm air and drains downhill, which means low-lying spots, valley bottoms, and areas near creeks tend to frost earlier in fall and later in spring than a station sitting on higher, open ground just a few miles away. Gardeners in Ozark hollows or Ouachita foothills routinely see frost dates that lag well behind the nearest reporting station.
Urban and suburban settings work in the opposite direction. Pavement, buildings, and concentrated structures hold heat, creating a mild “urban heat island” effect that can push a city garden’s actual last frost earlier and first fall frost later than official readings taken at an airport station outside town. A garden tucked against a south-facing brick wall, sheltered from wind, will consistently outperform the neighborhood average, sometimes by two or three weeks.
Soil type and drainage add another layer. Wet, poorly drained clay soil holds cold longer into spring than sandy, well-drained ground, which warms and dries faster once the sun starts doing real work. Slope orientation matters too. A south-facing garden bed catches more direct sun and typically loses its frost risk sooner than a north-facing bed just across the yard.
Because none of these local variables show up in a statewide dataset, the best next step for a specific address is checking with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service, which tracks county-level growing conditions and can help translate these regional dates into something closer to your actual soil and slope.
Common questions
What is the last frost date in Little Rock, Arkansas?
For a 32°F freeze, Little Rock falls within the statewide March 12 to March 28 range published by NOAA. For the lighter 36°F frost threshold specifically, NWS Little Rock publishes April 3 as the last spring occurrence, which is the more relevant date for tender seedlings.
Is Arkansas in USDA zone 7?
Parts of it are. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map places Arkansas across a 6b to 8a range, meaning higher elevations and the northern part of the state can fall into 6b or 7a, while southern and Delta areas reach 7b or 8a. This zone system measures winter extreme minimum temperatures, not frost timing.
How many frost-free days does Arkansas typically get?
Based on the 32°F freeze probability dates, the frost-free season runs between roughly 224 and 253 days depending on location, a range calculated from the earliest and latest published spring and fall frost dates.
When should I stop planting tender vegetables in fall in Arkansas?
Treat the NWS Little Rock 36°F date of October 31 as your first caution point for frost-sensitive crops still in the garden. The harder 32°F freeze that ends the season outright typically lands between November 7 and November 20 depending on your specific location within the state.