Drakes Branch, VA 23967 Frost Dates
Drakes Branch, VA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/10, roughly 225 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 201 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Drakes Branch 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 Drakes Branch'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
04/10 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/23 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Drakes Branch against the rest of the dataset
About 201 days separate Drakes Branch's last and first frost, putting it 17,629 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within VA, it ranks 629 of 1,178.
Learn more
Before leaning on 23967's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Drakes Branch's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Drakes Branch's dates instead of trusting one.