Northampton, MA 01053 Frost Dates
Northampton, MA: when does the frost end?
Around 05/02 is the usual last spring frost, about 247 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Northampton in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Northampton's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Northampton's last frost
05/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/21 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Northampton against the rest of the dataset
Northampton's growing season runs about 160 days, ranking 32,238 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MA, it ranks 526 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 01053's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Northampton's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Northampton's dates instead of trusting one.