Sanford, ME 03882 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Sanford, ME, ZIP 03882
Around 05/16 is the usual last spring frost, about 261 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/26, about 129 frost-free days later.
Sanford sits in USDA Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Sanford has about 4 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 Sanford's last frost
05/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/03 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/30 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Sanford compares
At roughly 129 frost-free days, Sanford places 38,431 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 427 of 456.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Sanford can differ from the 03882 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Sanford's frost date answer different questions.