Bradford, PA 16701 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Bradford, PA, ZIP 16701
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/18, roughly 263 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 136 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bradford 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
Zone 5b around Bradford has about 5 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/30 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 Bradford compares
At roughly 136 frost-free days, Bradford places 37,667 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 2,047 of 2,088.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Bradford can differ from the 16701 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Bradford's frost date answer different questions.