Newfane, VT 05343 Frost Dates
05343, near Newfane, VT: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/16, about 261 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 140 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Newfane 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
Newfane'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/31 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Newfane against the rest of the dataset
About 140 days separate Newfane's last and first frost, putting it 37,196 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within VT, it ranks 183 of 330.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 05343: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Newfane's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Newfane's dates instead of trusting one.