Cambridge, MA 02134 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Cambridge, MA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/19, about 234 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 185 frost-free days later.
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 Cambridge, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Cambridge before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Cambridge's last frost
04/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/06 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/03 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Cambridge compares
Cambridge's growing season runs about 185 days, ranking 23,018 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MA, it ranks 170 of 712.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Cambridge can differ from the 02134 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6b and Cambridge's frost date answer different questions.