Fitchburg, MA 01420 Frost Dates
Fitchburg, MA: when does the frost end?
Around 05/01 is the usual last spring frost, about 246 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 162 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fitchburg 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 Fitchburg's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/01 isn't a guarantee
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/19 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Fitchburg against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 162 frost-free days, Fitchburg places 31,621 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 459 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 01420's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Fitchburg's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Fitchburg can differ from the 01420 normal.