Pittsfield, MA 01226 Frost Dates
Pittsfield, MA: when does the frost end?
Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 152 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pittsfield in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 5 weeks until Pittsfield's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/05 isn't a guarantee
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/21 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Pittsfield against the rest of the dataset
About 152 days separate Pittsfield's last and first frost, putting it 34,686 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MA, it ranks 644 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 01226's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Pittsfield's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Pittsfield can differ from the 01226 normal.