Fairfax, VA 20122 Frost Dates
Fairfax, VA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/14, roughly 229 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/29, roughly 198 days after the last spring frost.
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 Fairfax, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 9 weeks until Fairfax's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/14 isn't a guarantee
04/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/30 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Fairfax against the rest of the dataset
Fairfax's growing season runs about 198 days, ranking 18,314 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 654 of 1,178.
Learn more
Before leaning on 20122's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Fairfax's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Fairfax can differ from the 20122 normal.