FrostDateCheck

Philadelphia, PA 19133 Frost Dates

Philadelphia, PA: when does the frost end?

Zone 7b

The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/15, about 230 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/31, roughly 199 days after the last spring frost.

Philadelphia sits in USDA Zone 7b (5 to 10°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.

Stretching the season past the first frost

With roughly 9 weeks until Philadelphia's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.

The actual range around Philadelphia's last frost

04/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Philadelphia against the rest of the dataset

Philadelphia's growing season runs about 199 days, ranking 17,940 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within PA, it ranks 253 of 2,088.

Learn more

Before leaning on 19133's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Philadelphia's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Philadelphia's dates instead of trusting one.