What Planting Zone Is 6050 Feet?

Geography

• Numerous locations in the United States exist with a general elevation between 6,000 and 6,100 feet above sea level. Mount Washington, New Hampshire, is about 6,000 feet tall, and the only other comparable elevation in the eastern half of the country is in the mountains of western North Carolina, such as in Mitchell and Hayward counties. Throughout the Intermountain West, wide variations in elevation dominate the landscape. All of these counties in various states include an elevation between 6,000 and 6,100 feet: Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Beaverhead County, Montana; Boulder County, Colorado; El Dorado and Fresno Counties, California; Chelan County, Washington, Denali and Juneau counties, Alaska, and Hawaii County, Hawaii. Numerous parts of Utah are at this elevation.

Latitude

• Even though numerous places in the United States may be at an approximate elevation of 6,050 feet, latitude or proximity to the moderating temperatures of the ocean can affect how warm or cold that elevation is in any season. At 6,000 feet in Alaska, permanent snowpack exists, but in Hawaii or New Mexico, snow may occur only in winter at the same elevation. If the elevation is far from the ocean, temperatures may be colder and the drier at any comparable moment, making rain or snow less likely.

Winter Temperatures

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone Map distinguishes areas based on average annual minimum winter temperatures. The USDA zone designation for any geography in the United States can differ based on the severity of cold, and most are affected by latitude. For example, at 6,050 feet in Alaska, it may be Zone 1, but in Colorado Zone 4, zone 7 in Hawaii or zone 5 in California and New Mexico. In mountainous areas, the USDA zones are difficult to determine because temperatures vary dramatically between valleys and slopes.

Growing Season

• Ultimately, the planting zone for any area at 6,050 feet must consider the frost-free days -- the number of days between the last killing frost in spring and the first killing frost in autumn. In some places, frost may occur year-round or might be absent only for one to three months in summer.

Recommendations

• For the most precise information, contact your local cooperative extension office and ask questions to learn if any USDA zone rating is used or any frost dates known for any elevation in your region. In the United States west of the Great Plains, USDA zones aren't relied on heavily, but "Sunset Western Garden Book" climate zones are. For the higher elevations, climate zone designations A1, A2, A3, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a and H1 all can include geographies with an elevation around 6,050 feet in an array of latitudes.