Cranston, RI 02893 Frost Dates
02893, near Cranston, RI: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/11, about 226 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 199 days after the last spring frost.
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 Cranston, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Cranston's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/11 isn't a guarantee
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/23 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cranston against the rest of the dataset
About 199 days separate Cranston's last and first frost, putting it 17,994 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within RI, it ranks 31 of 79.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 02893: local microclimates, on what one yard in Cranston can differ from the 02893 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6b and Cranston's frost date answer different questions.