Riverdale, NJ 07444 Frost Dates
07444, near Riverdale, NJ: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/19, about 234 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/23, roughly 188 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Riverdale in Zone 7a (0 to 5°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
Riverdale's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/19 isn't a guarantee
04/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/03 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Riverdale against the rest of the dataset
About 188 days separate Riverdale's last and first frost, putting it 22,022 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NJ, it ranks 684 of 906.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 07444: local microclimates, on what one yard in Riverdale can differ from the 07444 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Riverdale's frost date answer different questions.