Jonestown, PA 17038 Frost Dates
17038, near Jonestown, PA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/20, about 235 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/25, roughly 185 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Jonestown in Zone 7a (0 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
Jonestown'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
04/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/07 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Jonestown against the rest of the dataset
Jonestown's growing season runs about 185 days, ranking 23,204 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within PA, it ranks 711 of 2,088.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 17038: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Jonestown's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Jonestown's dates instead of trusting one.