Northampton, MA 01059 Frost Dates
01059, near Northampton, MA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/02, about 247 days from today. 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
Northampton's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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
At roughly 160 frost-free days, Northampton places 32,239 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 527 of 712.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 01059: local microclimates, on what one yard in Northampton can differ from the 01059 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Northampton's frost date answer different questions.