Richmond, VA 23228 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Richmond, VA, ZIP 23228
Around 04/10 is the usual last spring frost, about 225 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/31, about 202 frost-free days later.
Richmond 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.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7b around Richmond has about 9 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 04/10 isn't a guarantee
04/10 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/27 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/29 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Richmond compares
At roughly 202 frost-free days, Richmond places 17,076 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within VA, it ranks 579 of 1,178.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Richmond can differ from the 23228 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Richmond's frost date answer different questions.