Richmond, VA 23120 Frost Dates
Richmond, VA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/17 is the usual last spring frost, about 232 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/27, roughly 191 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richmond 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
With roughly 9 weeks until Richmond's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
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 05/08 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Richmond against the rest of the dataset
About 191 days separate Richmond's last and first frost, putting it 20,613 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within VA, it ranks 810 of 1,178.
Learn more
Before leaning on 23120's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Richmond can differ from the 23120 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Richmond's frost date answer different questions.