Salem, NJ 08001 Frost Dates
08001, near Salem, NJ: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/11, about 226 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/03, roughly 206 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Salem in Zone 7b (5 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
Salem's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/29 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/27 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Salem against the rest of the dataset
About 206 days separate Salem's last and first frost, putting it 16,001 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NJ, it ranks 349 of 906.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 08001: local microclimates, on what one yard in Salem can differ from the 08001 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7b and Salem's frost date answer different questions.