Frost dates / Ohio / Cincinnati

Frost dates in Cincinnati, OH

The station on this page is CINCINNATI LUNKEN AP, OH US (USW00093812), 5.3 miles from the city point. Population in the Census 2024 estimate is 314,915.

Zone 6bUSDA average annual extreme minimum -5°F to 0°F, from ZIP 45267 (0.2 miles from the city point used on this page).

Median last 32°F is April 16. Median first 32°F is October 25. The 50% growing-season length is 190 days. The green band runs from the median last frost to the median first frost. Thin ticks mark the 10%, 50%, and 90% dates.

Outside the median season Growing seasonTicks: 10%, 50%, and 90%

Last 32°F in spring

NCEI’s probability is the chance the last spring minimum of 32°F or lower occurs on or after the date.

ProbabilityDateHow to read it
90%April 2Earlier date. A last 32°F on or after this day is common.
50%April 16Median.
10%May 3Later date. A last 32°F on or after this day is uncommon.

First 32°F in fall

NCEI’s probability is the chance the first autumn minimum of 32°F or lower occurs on or before the date.

ProbabilityDateHow to read it
10%October 12Earlier date. A first 32°F on or before this day is uncommon.
50%October 25Median.
90%November 5Later date. A first 32°F on or before this day is common.

32°F growing-season length

Days between the last spring 32°F and the first autumn 32°F. The figure is a length the season meets or exceeds at that probability, from NCEI, not a subtraction done on this site.

Probability the season is at least this longDays
10%210
50%190
90%168

28°F threshold

10%50%90%
Last, on or afterApril 18April 2March 19
First, on or beforeOctober 24November 4November 18
Season at least235 days215 days193 days

36°F threshold

10%50%90%
Last, on or afterMay 14April 29April 14
First, on or beforeOctober 2October 14October 27
Season at least186 days168 days147 days

Station CINCINNATI LUNKEN AP, OH US (USW00093812). Completeness flag S, 29 years used for the 32°F dates. NCEI’s annual probability of at least one day at or below 32°F is 100%. Freeze dates are conditional on that threshold occurring. Elevation 149.4 m. The same probability language applies to the 28°F and 36°F rows when those dates passed the same quality checks.

Planting calendar for Cincinnati · Zone 6b

Check a crop against this station

Cincinnati, OH

Zone 6bAverage annual extreme minimum -5°F to 0°F

Median last 32°F is April 16. Median first 32°F is October 25. The 50% growing-season length is 190 days. The green band runs from the median last frost to the median first frost. Thin ticks mark the 10%, 50%, and 90% dates.

Outside the median season Growing seasonTicks: 10%, 50%, and 90%

Ohio. Nearest qualified station: CINCINNATI LUNKEN AP, OH US (USW00093812), 5.3 miles. Median last 32°F April 16. Median first 32°F October 25. The 50% growing-season length is 190 days.

Open the ZIP page · Crop guides for Ohio

32°F probabilities at this station
10%50%90%
Last 32°F on or afterMay 3April 16April 2
First 32°F on or beforeOctober 12October 25November 5

Column order matches the NCEI file: for the last freeze, 10% is the later date and 90% is the earlier date. How to read the probabilities.

A wall calendar surrounded by vegetables, herbs, seed packets, and watering cans.

Planting calendar

Windows below are from Ohio State University Extension, Planning for the Garden, excerpted from OSU Extension Bulletin 287, Home Vegetable Gardening, retrieved 2026-10-10. The dates are for a normal season in central Ohio. The same page says spring planting runs about two weeks earlier in southern Ohio and about two weeks later in northern Ohio. Those shifts are a sentence, not a second column, so the dates below stay the central Ohio dates. The PDF says the tables are excerpted from Bulletin 287 by Utzinger, Brooks and Wittmeyer, 1991, now out of print.

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