North Adams, MA 01070 Frost Dates
When can you plant in North Adams, MA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/17, roughly 262 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 136 frost-free days later.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for North Adams, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in North Adams before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 05/17 isn't a guarantee
05/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/02 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/30 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How North Adams compares
At roughly 136 frost-free days, North Adams places 37,651 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 710 of 712.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5b and North Adams's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around North Adams's dates instead of trusting one.