Watertown, NY 13601 Frost Dates
13601, near Watertown, NY: the frost window
Around 05/02 is the usual last spring frost, about 247 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/13, roughly 163 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Watertown in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Watertown's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/02 isn't a guarantee
05/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Watertown against the rest of the dataset
Watertown's growing season runs about 163 days, ranking 31,325 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NY, it ranks 933 of 1,951.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 13601: the frost range, on how to read the range around Watertown's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Watertown can differ from the 13601 normal.