Waterville, ME 04984 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Waterville, ME?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/16, about 261 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/26, about 130 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 4 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.
The actual range around Waterville's last frost
05/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/03 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/01 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Waterville compares
At roughly 130 frost-free days, Waterville places 38,359 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 425 of 456.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Waterville can differ from the 04984 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5a and Waterville's frost date answer different questions.