Delta, PA 17518 Frost Dates
17518, near Delta, PA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/03, roughly 218 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/06, roughly 217 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Delta 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
Delta's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/03 isn't a guarantee
04/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/22 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Delta against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 217 frost-free days, Delta places 13,582 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within PA, it ranks 51 of 2,088.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 17518: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Delta's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Delta's dates instead of trusting one.