Richmond, VA 23218 Frost Dates
23218, near Richmond, VA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/03, about 218 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 215 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
Richmond's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/03 isn't a guarantee
04/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/19 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Richmond against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 215 frost-free days, Richmond places 13,953 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within VA, it ranks 344 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 23218: local microclimates, on what one yard in Richmond can differ from the 23218 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7b and Richmond's frost date answer different questions.