Swanton, VT 05460 Frost Dates
Swanton, VT: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/12, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
Swanton 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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Swanton's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/01 isn't a guarantee
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Swanton against the rest of the dataset
About 161 days separate Swanton's last and first frost, putting it 32,061 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within VT, it ranks 36 of 330.
Learn more
Before leaning on 05460's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Swanton can differ from the 05460 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Swanton's frost date answer different questions.