Waterville, ME 04940 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Waterville, ME?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/07, roughly 252 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/02, about 146 frost-free days later.
Waterville 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.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Waterville before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/07 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 Waterville compares
At roughly 146 frost-free days, Waterville places 36,029 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 344 of 456.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Waterville's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Waterville can differ from the 04940 normal.