Appalachia, VA 24215 Frost Dates
24215, near Appalachia, VA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/20, about 235 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/23, roughly 186 days after the last spring frost.
Appalachia sits in USDA Zone 7a (0 to 5°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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Appalachia's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/20 isn't a guarantee
04/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/04 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/05 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Appalachia against the rest of the dataset
Appalachia's growing season runs about 186 days, ranking 22,871 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 931 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 24215: the frost range, on how to read the range around Appalachia's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Appalachia can differ from the 24215 normal.