Southbridge Town, MA 06262 Frost Dates
06262, near Southbridge Town, MA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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 Southbridge Town, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Southbridge Town's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
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 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Southbridge Town against the rest of the dataset
Southbridge Town's growing season runs about 161 days, ranking 31,979 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MA, it ranks 499 of 712.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 06262: local microclimates, on what one yard in Southbridge Town can differ from the 06262 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Southbridge Town's frost date answer different questions.