Portsmouth, VA 23325 Frost Dates
Portsmouth, VA: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/23, about 207 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/16, roughly 239 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Portsmouth in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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 11 weeks until Portsmouth'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
03/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Portsmouth against the rest of the dataset
Portsmouth's growing season runs about 239 days, ranking 8,756 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 60 of 1,178.
Learn more
Before leaning on 23325's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 8a and Portsmouth's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Portsmouth's dates instead of trusting one.