Hot Springs, NC frost dates

From NOAA weather station Waterville 2 (USC00319123), elevation 1,430 ft. The nearest Census place to the station coordinates is Hot Springs town, 17.2 miles away.

Summary

In the 1991–2020 record, the median last spring freeze (32°F) at Waterville 2 is Apr 6 and the median first fall freeze is Nov 1, for a typical freeze-free season of 210 days. In about 1 year in 10 the last spring freeze comes after Apr 23, and in about 1 year in 10 the first fall freeze arrives by Oct 20. The station averages 78 nights per year with a low of 32°F or colder.

Compared with the median of 187 North Carolina stations in this dataset, the median last freeze here is 5 days later than the state median (Apr 1), the median first freeze is 3 days earlier than the state median (Nov 4), and the growing season ranks #112 of 187 by length (longest = #1). The spread between the 90% and 10% spring dates is 34 days, a measure of how variable spring is here.

Freeze probability table

Spring: chance the last freeze falls *after* the date. Fall: chance the first freeze falls *on or before* the date. Season: days between, exceeded in 90% / 50% / 10% of years.
Threshold	Last spring occurrence			First fall occurrence			Season length (days) 90% / 50% / 10%
Threshold	Early (90% chance of a later freeze)	Median (50%)	Cautious (10% chance of a later freeze)	Early (10% chance by then)	Median (50%)	Late (90% chance by then)	Season length (days) 90% / 50% / 10%
36°F (light frost possible)	Apr 5	Apr 20	May 6	Oct 11	Oct 23	Nov 3	167 / 186 / 206
32°F (freeze)	Mar 20	Apr 6	Apr 23	Oct 20	Nov 1	Nov 14	191 / 210 / 233
28°F (hard freeze)	Mar 2	Mar 24	Apr 8	Nov 1	Nov 13	Nov 30	213 / 237 / 262

Read the spring “Cautious” column as the safer planting date: only about 1 year in 10 has a freeze after it. NOAA computes these from daily minimum temperatures at the station; your yard can differ, especially in low spots or at a different elevation.

Planting calendar for Hot Springs

Pick how much frost risk you accept. The calendar applies generic, extension-published timing rules to this station’s dates. See the rules and sources.

Spring frost date to plan from Filter Year

Crop	Start seeds indoors	Plant outdoors (spring)	Latest fall planting (est.)	Days to harvest

Fall estimates count back from the median first fall freeze (32°F for tender crops, 28°F hard freeze for cool-season crops) by the longer days-to-harvest figure. These are rough planning aids, not recommendations for any specific variety; check seed packets and your county extension office.

Nearby stations

Cataloochee, NC — 9 mi; median last freeze Apr 30, first freeze Oct 12
Hot Springs, NC — 17 mi; median last freeze Apr 11, first freeze Oct 29
Waynesville 1 E, NC — 21 mi; median last freeze Apr 30, first freeze Oct 14
Cherokee, NC — 23 mi; median last freeze Apr 17, first freeze Oct 21
Marshall, NC — 24 mi; median last freeze Apr 28, first freeze Oct 18

About this station’s data

Station ID: USC00319123 · Latitude 35.7744, longitude -83.0997 · Elevation 436 m (1,430 ft)
NOAA completeness flag: S — Standard: meets WMO data-availability standards for 24 or more years. Years of data used: 26.
Source file: USC00319123.csv (NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 annual/seasonal normals).

Raw values from the NOAA file (32°F)

Field	Value
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP10`	04/23
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP50`	04/06
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP90`	03/20
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP10`	10/20
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP50`	11/01
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP90`	11/14
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP10`	233.0
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP50`	210.0
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP90`	191.0