Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Salida, CO

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 20. 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 11, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by June 26 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 4 Apr 27 Apr 23 Apr 19 Apr 15 Apr 11 Apr 7 Apr 2 Mar 27
Last 20° May 25 May 17 May 12 May 7 May 3 Apr 29 Apr 24 Apr 19 Apr 12
Last 24° Jun 2 May 27 May 22 May 19 May 15 May 11 May 8 May 3 Apr 27
Last 28° Jun 14 Jun 8 Jun 3 May 30 May 26 May 23 May 19 May 14 May 8
Last 32° Jun 25 Jun 19 Jun 14 Jun 11 Jun 7 Jun 3 May 31 May 26 May 20
Last 36° Jul 20 Jul 12 Jul 6 Jul 1 Jun 26 Jun 22 Jun 17 Jun 11 Jun 3

How to read these charts for the fall
As your growing season comes to an end, the nightly temperatures for Salida, CO 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 10, and by September 20 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 18.
  2. There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around September 4
  3. You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by September 20
  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 4 Oct 10 Oct 14 Oct 18 Oct 21 Oct 24 Oct 28 Nov 1 Nov 7
First 20° Sep 23 Sep 28 Oct 2 Oct 6 Oct 9 Oct 12 Oct 15 Oct 19 Oct 25
First 24° Sep 19 Sep 23 Sep 26 Sep 28 Sep 30 Oct 3 Oct 5 Oct 8 Oct 12
First 28° Sep 4 Sep 9 Sep 13 Sep 16 Sep 20 Sep 23 Sep 26 Sep 30 Oct 5
First 32° Aug 10 Aug 18 Aug 25 Aug 30 Sep 4 Sep 9 Sep 14 Sep 20 Sep 28
First 36° Jul 31 Aug 8 Aug 13 Aug 18 Aug 23 Aug 27 Sep 1 Sep 7 Sep 15

Frost Dates for other nearby locations
  • Buena Vista, CO
  • Saguache, CO
  • Antero Rsvr, CO
  • Taylor Park, CO
  • Twin Lakes Reservoir, CO
  • Lake George, CO
  • Westcliffe, CO
  • Cochetopa Creek, CO
  • Sugarloaf Rsvr, CO
  • Canon City, CO

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