La Plata, MD 20695 Frost Dates
La Plata, MD: when does the frost end?
Around 04/03 is the usual last spring frost, about 218 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/08, roughly 217 days after the last spring frost.
La Plata 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 10 weeks until La Plata's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/03 isn't a guarantee
04/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/19 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/15 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
La Plata against the rest of the dataset
La Plata's growing season runs about 217 days, ranking 13,440 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MD, it ranks 279 of 583.
Learn more
Before leaning on 20695's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in La Plata can differ from the 20695 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and La Plata's frost date answer different questions.