South Burlington, VT 05482 Frost Dates
05482, near South Burlington, VT: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/29, roughly 244 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/15, roughly 169 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts South Burlington in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
South Burlington's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/29 isn't a guarantee
04/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
South Burlington against the rest of the dataset
South Burlington's growing season runs about 169 days, ranking 29,343 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VT, it ranks 10 of 330.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 05482: local microclimates, on what one yard in South Burlington can differ from the 05482 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and South Burlington's frost date answer different questions.