Northampton, PA 18016 Frost Dates
18016, near Northampton, PA: the frost window
Around 04/20 is the usual last spring frost, about 235 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/24, roughly 184 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Northampton 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
Northampton'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 04/06 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.
Northampton against the rest of the dataset
Northampton's growing season runs about 184 days, ranking 23,467 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within PA, it ranks 760 of 2,088.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 18016: local microclimates, on what one yard in Northampton can differ from the 18016 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Northampton's frost date answer different questions.