Old Town, ME 04481 Frost Dates
Old Town, ME: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/13, roughly 258 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/30, roughly 137 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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 Old Town, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Old Town'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
05/13 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 05/29 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Old Town against the rest of the dataset
Old Town's growing season runs about 137 days, ranking 37,505 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within ME, it ranks 386 of 456.
Learn more
Before leaning on 04481's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Old Town can differ from the 04481 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Old Town's frost date answer different questions.