Hempstead, NY 11554 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Hempstead, NY?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/02, roughly 217 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/12, about 224 frost-free days later.
Zone 7b (5 to 10°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 Hempstead, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 11 weeks of growing season left in Hempstead before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/18 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Hempstead compares
At roughly 224 frost-free days, Hempstead places 11,729 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NY, it ranks 134 of 1,951.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Hempstead can differ from the 11554 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7b and Hempstead's frost date answer different questions.