Johnson, VT 05442 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Johnson, VT?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/09, about 254 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 142 frost-free days later.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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 Johnson, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Johnson before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Johnson's last frost
05/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/27 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/24 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Johnson compares
At roughly 142 frost-free days, Johnson places 36,762 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within VT, it ranks 138 of 330.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Johnson can differ from the 05442 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5a and Johnson's frost date answer different questions.