First Freeze for Autumn 2013: How Does it Compare?

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will likely produce the first freeze events of the season across most of the lower elevations of North Carolina. Higher elevations have already experienced a freeze.

How does the timing of the first freeze in 2013 compare with historical climatology?

Below is a table with dates of average, earliest, and latest freeze for a few lower-elevation sites across the state. (Note that we’re defining a freeze as minimum temperature ≤ 32°F). This table was produced using statistics from our Climate Thresholds tool.

LocationAverage First Freeze DateEarliest DateLatest Date
GreensboroNovember 1October 4, 1974December 1, 1964
CharlotteNovember 7October 9, 2000December 10, 1989
FayettevilleNovember 7September 20, 1971December 3, 1956
Elizabeth CityNovember 12October 21, 1940December 11, 1919
RaleighNovember 13October 3, 1974December 27, 1992

So the timing of this year’s freeze is a bit early, but not unusually so. Most of North Carolina experiences their first freeze in the first couple weeks of November. This year, it comes about a week early.