Newport, RI 02881 Frost Dates
Newport, RI: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/12, roughly 163 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Newport 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 Newport's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Newport's last frost
05/01 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 05/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Newport against the rest of the dataset
Newport's growing season runs about 163 days, ranking 31,323 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within RI, it ranks 60 of 79.
Learn more
Before leaning on 02881's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Newport can differ from the 02881 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and Newport's frost date answer different questions.