East Petersburg, PA 17538 Frost Dates
Frost dates for East Petersburg, PA, ZIP 17538
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/30, about 245 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/10, about 162 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for East Petersburg, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around East Petersburg has about 6 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/13 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How East Petersburg compares
About 162 days separate East Petersburg's last and first frost, putting it 31,720 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within PA, it ranks 1,657 of 2,088.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and East Petersburg's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around East Petersburg's dates instead of trusting one.