Camden, SC frost dates

From NOAA weather station Wateree Dam (USC00388979), elevation 230 ft. The nearest Census place to the station coordinates is Camden city, 7.5 miles away.

Summary

In the 1991–2020 record, the median last spring freeze (32°F) at Wateree Dam is Mar 23 and the median first fall freeze is Nov 14, for a typical freeze-free season of 237 days. In about 1 year in 10 the last spring freeze comes after Apr 7, and in about 1 year in 10 the first fall freeze arrives by Nov 1. The station averages 59 nights per year with a low of 32°F or colder.

Compared with the median of 103 South Carolina stations in this dataset, the median last freeze here is 3 days earlier than the state median (Mar 26), the median first freeze is 5 days later than the state median (Nov 9), and the growing season ranks #39 of 103 by length (longest = #1). The spread between the 90% and 10% spring dates is 33 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)	Mar 19	Apr 3	Apr 17	Oct 22	Nov 3	Nov 17	195 / 214 / 233
32°F (freeze)	Mar 5	Mar 23	Apr 7	Nov 1	Nov 14	Dec 3	215 / 237 / 261
28°F (hard freeze)	Feb 18	Mar 11	Mar 27	Nov 10	Dec 1	Dec 27	237 / 263 / 297

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 Camden

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

Lugoff 2NE, SC — 6 mi; median last freeze Mar 27, first freeze Nov 7
Camden 3 W, SC — 7 mi; median last freeze Apr 4, first freeze Nov 4
Sandhill Rsch - Elgin, SC — 17 mi; median last freeze Mar 22, first freeze Nov 15
Winnsboro, SC — 22 mi; median last freeze Mar 31, first freeze Nov 6
Cedar Creek 2E, SC — 23 mi; median last freeze Apr 10, first freeze Oct 28

About this station’s data

Station ID: USC00388979 · Latitude 34.3347, longitude -80.7030 · Elevation 70 m (230 ft)
NOAA completeness flag: E — Estimated: fewer complete years at this site; NOAA estimated the normals statistically from nearby stations. Treat these dates with extra caution. Years of data used: 9.
Source file: USC00388979.csv (NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 annual/seasonal normals).

Raw values from the NOAA file (32°F)

Field	Value
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP10`	04/07
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP50`	03/23
`ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP90`	03/05
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP10`	11/01
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP50`	11/14
`ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP90`	12/03
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP10`	261.0
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP50`	237.0
`ANN-TMIN-PRBGSL-T32FP90`	215.0