FrostDateCheck

Auburn, ME 04022 Frost Dates

04022, near Auburn, ME: the frost window

Zone 5a

Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 151 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Auburn in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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

Auburn's growing season runs out in roughly 5 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 05/05 isn't a guarantee

05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Auburn against the rest of the dataset

About 151 days separate Auburn's last and first frost, putting it 34,951 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within ME, it ranks 245 of 456.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 04022: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Auburn's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Auburn's dates instead of trusting one.