Wilmington, DE 19802 Frost Dates
Wilmington, DE: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/07, about 222 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 209 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 7b (5 to 10°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 Wilmington, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 10 weeks until Wilmington'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
04/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Wilmington against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 209 frost-free days, Wilmington places 15,138 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within DE, it ranks 32 of 96.
Learn more
Before leaning on 19802's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Wilmington's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Wilmington can differ from the 19802 normal.