Rutherford, NJ 07070 Frost Dates
Rutherford, NJ: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/04, about 219 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/06, roughly 216 days after the last spring frost.
Rutherford sits in USDA Zone 7b (5 to 10°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 10 weeks until Rutherford's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/04 isn't a guarantee
04/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rutherford against the rest of the dataset
About 216 days separate Rutherford's last and first frost, putting it 13,738 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NJ, it ranks 288 of 906.
Learn more
Before leaning on 07070's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Rutherford's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Rutherford can differ from the 07070 normal.