FrostDateCheck

Caribou, ME 04779 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Caribou, ME?

Zone 4a

The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/06, about 251 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/02, about 147 frost-free days later.

Zone 4a (-30 to -25°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 Caribou, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

About 5 weeks of growing season left in Caribou before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

The actual range around Caribou's last frost

05/06 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/25 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/21 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Caribou compares

About 147 days separate Caribou's last and first frost, putting it 35,892 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within ME, it ranks 332 of 456.

Learn more

local microclimates covers what one yard in Caribou can differ from the 04779 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 4a and Caribou's frost date answer different questions.