New Bedford, MA 02576 Frost Dates
New Bedford, MA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/21 is the usual last spring frost, about 236 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/24, roughly 186 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts New Bedford in Zone 7a (0 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 8 weeks until New Bedford's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/03 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
New Bedford against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 186 frost-free days, New Bedford places 22,685 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 155 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 02576's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around New Bedford's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in New Bedford can differ from the 02576 normal.