Manchester, VT 05776 Frost Dates
Manchester, VT: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/13, about 258 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/29, roughly 137 days after the last spring frost.
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 Manchester, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Manchester's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/30 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Manchester against the rest of the dataset
Manchester's growing season runs about 137 days, ranking 37,551 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VT, it ranks 205 of 330.
Learn more
Before leaning on 05776's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Manchester can differ from the 05776 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Manchester's frost date answer different questions.