Sanford, ME 03906 Frost Dates
Sanford, ME: when does the frost end?
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sanford in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Sanford's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/13 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Sanford against the rest of the dataset
Sanford's growing season runs about 161 days, ranking 31,972 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within ME, it ranks 146 of 456.
Learn more
Before leaning on 03906's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Sanford's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Sanford's dates instead of trusting one.