Madison, VA 22731 Frost Dates
22731, near Madison, VA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/17, about 232 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/22, roughly 188 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Madison in Zone 7a (0 to 5°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
Madison's growing season runs out in roughly 8 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
04/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Madison against the rest of the dataset
Madison's growing season runs about 188 days, ranking 22,215 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 917 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 22731: the frost range, on how to read the range around Madison's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Madison can differ from the 22731 normal.