Rural Retreat, VA 24368 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Rural Retreat, VA, ZIP 24368
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/25, roughly 240 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/18, about 174 frost-free days later.
Rural Retreat 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.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around Rural Retreat has about 7 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 04/25 isn't a guarantee
04/25 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/10 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Rural Retreat compares
Rural Retreat's growing season runs about 174 days, ranking 27,531 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 1,098 of 1,178.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Rural Retreat's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Rural Retreat's dates instead of trusting one.