Ellicottville, NY 14778 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Ellicottville, NY?
Around 05/17 is the usual last spring frost, about 262 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 136 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ellicottville in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Ellicottville before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 05/17 isn't a guarantee
05/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/01 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/31 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Ellicottville compares
At roughly 136 frost-free days, Ellicottville places 37,790 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NY, it ranks 1,837 of 1,951.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Ellicottville can differ from the 14778 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5b and Ellicottville's frost date answer different questions.