Sanford, ME 04090 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Sanford, ME, ZIP 04090
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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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
At roughly 146 frost-free days, Sanford places 36,021 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 336 of 456.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Sanford can differ from the 04090 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Sanford's frost date answer different questions.