State College, PA 16827 Frost Dates
When can you plant in State College, PA?
Around 04/20 is the usual last spring frost, about 235 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/26, about 187 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts State College in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 8 weeks of growing season left in State College before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around State College's last frost
04/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/06 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How State College compares
At roughly 187 frost-free days, State College places 22,290 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 606 of 2,088.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around State College's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in State College can differ from the 16827 normal.