Shade Gap, PA 17239 Frost Dates
Shade Gap, PA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/23, roughly 238 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 177 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shade Gap 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
With roughly 8 weeks until Shade Gap's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/08 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Shade Gap against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 177 frost-free days, Shade Gap places 26,308 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 1,013 of 2,088.
Learn more
Before leaning on 17239's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Shade Gap can differ from the 17239 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Shade Gap's frost date answer different questions.