Lowell, MA 01850 Frost Dates
Lowell, MA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/30, roughly 245 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/10, roughly 164 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lowell in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Lowell's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 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 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lowell against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 164 frost-free days, Lowell places 30,804 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 409 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 01850's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Lowell's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Lowell can differ from the 01850 normal.