Waterville, ME 04976 Frost Dates
04976, near Waterville, ME: the frost window
Around 05/08 is the usual last spring frost, about 253 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 149 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waterville in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Waterville's growing season runs out in roughly 5 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/08 isn't a guarantee
05/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/20 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Waterville against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 149 frost-free days, Waterville places 35,484 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 280 of 456.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 04976: the frost range, on how to read the range around Waterville's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Waterville can differ from the 04976 normal.