Newport, RI 02871 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Newport, RI, ZIP 02871
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/11, about 226 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/02, about 203 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 Newport, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around Newport has about 9 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.
The actual range around Newport's last frost
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/01 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 Newport compares
About 203 days separate Newport's last and first frost, putting it 16,854 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within RI, it ranks 10 of 79.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Newport can differ from the 02871 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Newport's frost date answer different questions.