Buffalo, NY 14203 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Buffalo, NY?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/24, roughly 239 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/26, about 183 frost-free days later.
Buffalo sits in USDA Zone 6b (-5 to 0°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Buffalo before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/24 isn't a guarantee
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/11 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Buffalo compares
At roughly 183 frost-free days, Buffalo places 23,727 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NY, it ranks 469 of 1,951.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Buffalo can differ from the 14203 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6b and Buffalo's frost date answer different questions.