Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Chama, NM

How to read these charts for the spring
As the growing season approaches, the days get longer, the weather begins to warm up, and the nights start being less cold. You're still getting frost, but the chance of nightly frosts gets less and less with each passing day. Eventually, the frost stops, and this is when your tender plants are fully safe. So, how do you plan for this? The probabilities on this page help you assess your risk of frost on any given day.

What's a safe temperature for tender plants? When the nightly temperature falls, frost can form, even above 32°, because the air is colder high above the ground and the frost can form up there and then fall down onto your garden and do some damage, even if it's 36° on the ground. So many factors come into play, including wind, concrete, houses, trees and other structures, etc etc etc. Because of all this, you might want to consider 36° as "the danger zone".

In your average springtime, you have a 90% chance that there will be no 36° nights by July 19. In other words, you can pretty much count on being safe from frost by that day. But we want to get those tomatoes in the ground as soon as possible, right? We see that there's still an 80% chance of 36° on June 24, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by July 4 we are at the 50/50 point. At this point, we are close and we can start watching the weather forecast. If the upcoming week's forecast doesn't show below 40°, then it's probably okay to risk planting out your plants.

In the Spring
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Last 16° May 16 May 8 May 3 Apr 28 Apr 23 Apr 19 Apr 14 Apr 8 Mar 31
Last 20° May 27 May 21 May 17 May 13 May 9 May 6 May 2 Apr 28 Apr 22
Last 24° Jun 11 Jun 5 May 31 May 27 May 24 May 20 May 16 May 12 May 6
Last 28° Jun 26 Jun 21 Jun 17 Jun 13 Jun 10 Jun 7 Jun 4 May 31 May 26
Last 32° Jul 9 Jul 4 Jun 30 Jun 27 Jun 24 Jun 22 Jun 18 Jun 15 Jun 10
Last 36° Jul 19 Jul 14 Jul 10 Jul 7 Jul 4 Jul 1 Jun 28 Jun 24 Jun 19

How to read these charts for the fall
As your growing season comes to an end, the nightly temperatures for Chama, NM start to go down, and therefore every day that goes by increases the chance that you'll get frost. Your risk of frost really begins around August 25, and by September 22 you're almost certain to have received at least one frost event.

The charts on this page show the probabilities of receiving a certain temperature on a certain day. Some examples that might help:

  1. You have a small 20% chance of getting 32° by August 31.
  2. There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around September 11
  3. You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by September 22
  4. Said another way, you have a 1 in 5 chance at making it to that day without a 32° night.
In the Fall
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
First 16° Oct 6 Oct 11 Oct 15 Oct 18 Oct 21 Oct 24 Oct 27 Oct 31 Nov 5
First 20° Sep 25 Sep 30 Oct 3 Oct 6 Oct 9 Oct 12 Oct 15 Oct 19 Oct 24
First 24° Sep 19 Sep 23 Sep 26 Sep 29 Oct 2 Oct 4 Oct 7 Oct 11 Oct 15
First 28° Sep 10 Sep 14 Sep 17 Sep 20 Sep 22 Sep 25 Sep 27 Sep 30 Oct 4
First 32° Aug 25 Aug 31 Sep 4 Sep 8 Sep 11 Sep 15 Sep 18 Sep 22 Sep 28
First 36° Aug 10 Aug 17 Aug 21 Aug 25 Aug 29 Sep 2 Sep 6 Sep 10 Sep 17

Frost Dates for other nearby locations
  • Tierra Amarilla, NM
  • El Vado Dam, NM
  • Dulce, NM
  • Tres Piedras, NM
  • El Rito, NM
  • Abiquiu Dam, NM
  • Wolf Creek Pass, CO
  • Manassa, CO
  • Lindrith, NM
  • Monte Vista, CO

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    • Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.