State College, PA 16851 Frost Dates
State College, PA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/20 is the usual last spring frost, about 235 days away. 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 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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 8 weeks until State College's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
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.
State College against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 187 frost-free days, State College places 22,291 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 607 of 2,088.
Learn more
Before leaning on 16851's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and State College's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around State College's dates instead of trusting one.