Methuen, MA 01844 Frost Dates
01844, near Methuen, MA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/13, roughly 228 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/28, roughly 198 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Methuen, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Methuen's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/13 isn't a guarantee
04/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/29 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Methuen against the rest of the dataset
Methuen's growing season runs about 198 days, ranking 18,270 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MA, it ranks 103 of 712.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 01844: the frost range, on how to read the range around Methuen's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Methuen can differ from the 01844 normal.