Frost dates by ZIP code: The nearest NOAA stations to your ZIP, 1991-2020 normals
Enter a five-digit ZIP code. PlainClimate finds its center (Census Bureau 2024) and the five nearest NOAA stations with frost dates, and shows each station's last spring and first autumn 32°F dates with its distance and elevation.
Frost dates near ZIP 78520
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts ZIP 78520 in zone 10a (the coldest night of a typical year: 30 to 35°F).
The nearest station, Weather Office Brownsville, TX, is 9 miles from the ZIP's center: a night at 32°F or colder comes there in only 31% of years, and NOAA's median date of the last spring frost is January 9.
| Station | Distance | Elevation | Last frost (median) | 1 in 10 after | First frost (median) | Hardiness zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather Office Brownsville, TX | 9 mi | 15 ft | January 9 | March 1 | January 4 | – |
| Brownsville, TXBrownsville S Padre Island International Airport | 9 mi | 23 ft | January 6 | February 1 | January 2 | 10a |
| Port Isabel station, TX | 17 mi | 17 ft | January 3 | February 2 | January 1 | – |
| Harlingen station, TX | 18 mi | 38 ft | January 9 | February 4 | January 3 | 10a |
| Port Isabel, TXPort Isabel Cameron Airport | 19 mi | 19 ft | January 8 | February 7 | January 4 | 10a |
Frost comes later in spring at higher and colder stations and earlier in low, open ground: prefer a station at a similar elevation to yours. Hardiness zone in the table: the USDA's rule (the average of each year's coldest night, 1991-2020) applied to the station's own record.
Every frost threshold at Weather Office Brownsville
NOAA publishes the dates for several temperatures and odds. A 30% spring date means a 3-in-10 chance of a later frost (the convention almanacs use); 50% is the median; 10% the cautious date.
| Threshold | Spring, 10% | Spring, 30% | Spring, 50% | Spring, 90% | Autumn, 50% | Autumn, 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36°F (light frost) | March 7 | February 11 | January 25 | December 16 | December 30 | November 30 |
| 32°F | March 1 | January 24 | January 9 | December 12 | January 4 | December 9 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals; ZIP centers: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. Autumn 10%: one year in ten has its first frost before this date.