Spotswood, NJ 08857 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Spotswood, NJ, ZIP 08857
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/17, about 232 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 190 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 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 Spotswood, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around Spotswood has about 8 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 04/17 isn't a guarantee
04/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/02 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/06 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Spotswood compares
About 190 days separate Spotswood's last and first frost, putting it 21,116 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NJ, it ranks 570 of 906.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Spotswood's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Spotswood can differ from the 08857 normal.