Bowie, MD 20720 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Bowie, MD, ZIP 20720
Around 04/22 is the usual last spring frost, about 237 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/22, about 183 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bowie in Zone 7b (5 to 10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7b around Bowie has about 8 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/03 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Bowie compares
At roughly 183 frost-free days, Bowie places 23,745 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MD, it ranks 537 of 583.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Bowie's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Bowie can differ from the 20720 normal.