New Bedford, MA 02748 Frost Dates
Frost dates for New Bedford, MA, ZIP 02748
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/11, roughly 226 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/05, about 208 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 New Bedford, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around New Bedford has about 10 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 04/11 isn't a guarantee
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/30 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/22 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How New Bedford compares
At roughly 208 frost-free days, New Bedford places 15,510 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 55 of 712.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around New Bedford's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in New Bedford can differ from the 02748 normal.