Alfred, NY 14803 Frost Dates
14803, near Alfred, NY: the frost window
Around 05/11 is the usual last spring frost, about 256 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/08, roughly 150 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alfred 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
Alfred'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.
The actual range around Alfred's last frost
05/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Alfred against the rest of the dataset
Alfred's growing season runs about 150 days, ranking 35,277 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NY, it ranks 1,573 of 1,951.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 14803: the frost range, on how to read the range around Alfred's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Alfred can differ from the 14803 normal.