Philmont, NY 12521 Frost Dates
12521, near Philmont, NY: the frost window
Around 05/04 is the usual last spring frost, about 249 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/11, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Philmont in Zone 6a (-10 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
Philmont's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/04 isn't a guarantee
05/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/22 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Philmont against the rest of the dataset
About 160 days separate Philmont's last and first frost, putting it 32,408 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NY, it ranks 1,121 of 1,951.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 12521: local microclimates, on what one yard in Philmont can differ from the 12521 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Philmont's frost date answer different questions.