Sanford, ME 04068 Frost Dates
Sanford, ME: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/17, roughly 262 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/25, roughly 128 days after the last spring frost.
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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 4 weeks until Sanford's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/17 isn't a guarantee
05/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/02 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Sanford against the rest of the dataset
Sanford's growing season runs about 128 days, ranking 38,521 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within ME, it ranks 429 of 456.
Learn more
Before leaning on 04068's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Sanford can differ from the 04068 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Sanford's frost date answer different questions.