Laurel, MD 21077 Frost Dates
21077, near Laurel, MD: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/10, about 225 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/31, roughly 204 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 Laurel, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Laurel's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/10 isn't a guarantee
04/10 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Laurel against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 204 frost-free days, Laurel places 16,511 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MD, it ranks 370 of 583.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 21077: the frost range, on how to read the range around Laurel's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Laurel can differ from the 21077 normal.