Sanford, ME 04014 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Sanford, ME, ZIP 04014
Around 05/09 is the usual last spring frost, about 254 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/03, about 146 frost-free days later.
Zone 6a (-10 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 Sanford, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around Sanford has about 5 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
05/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/28 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/22 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Sanford compares
About 146 days separate Sanford's last and first frost, putting it 36,019 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within ME, it ranks 334 of 456.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Sanford can differ from the 04014 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Sanford's frost date answer different questions.