Richmond, VA 23285 Frost Dates
Richmond, VA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/03, roughly 218 days out. 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
With roughly 10 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
04/03 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
About 215 days separate Richmond's last and first frost, putting it 13,981 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within VA, it ranks 372 of 1,178.
Learn more
Before leaning on 23285's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Richmond's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Richmond's dates instead of trusting one.