FrostDateCheck

Alexandria, PA 16611 Frost Dates

16611, near Alexandria, PA: the frost window

Zone 6b

The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/20, about 235 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/26, roughly 187 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alexandria 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

Alexandria'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 04/20 isn't a guarantee

04/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Alexandria against the rest of the dataset

At roughly 187 frost-free days, Alexandria places 22,582 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 624 of 2,088.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 16611: local microclimates, on what one yard in Alexandria can differ from the 16611 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6b and Alexandria's frost date answer different questions.