Fairfax, VA 22122 Frost Dates
22122, near Fairfax, VA: the frost window
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.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fairfax in Zone 7b (5 to 10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's 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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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 18,336 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 676 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 22122: the frost range, on how to read the range around Fairfax's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Fairfax can differ from the 22122 normal.