Benson, PA 15953 Frost Dates
15953, near Benson, PA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/29, about 244 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 176 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Benson 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
Benson'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/14 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.
Benson against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 176 frost-free days, Benson places 26,655 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 1,102 of 2,088.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 15953: local microclimates, on what one yard in Benson can differ from the 15953 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Benson's frost date answer different questions.