Fairfax, VA 22096 Frost Dates
22096, near Fairfax, VA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/14, about 229 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/29, roughly 198 days after the last spring frost.
Fairfax 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
Fairfax'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 04/14 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
At roughly 198 frost-free days, Fairfax places 18,331 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within VA, it ranks 671 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 22096: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7b and Fairfax's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Fairfax's dates instead of trusting one.