Rochester, NY 14608 Frost Dates
14608, near Rochester, NY: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/24, roughly 239 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/25, roughly 181 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rochester in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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
Rochester's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/24 isn't a guarantee
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/08 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rochester against the rest of the dataset
About 181 days separate Rochester's last and first frost, putting it 24,414 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NY, it ranks 551 of 1,951.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 14608: the frost range, on how to read the range around Rochester's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Rochester can differ from the 14608 normal.