FrostDateCheck

Chatham, VA 24531 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Chatham, VA?

Zone 7b

Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/22, roughly 237 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 183 frost-free days later.

Zone 7b (5 to 10°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Chatham, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

About 8 weeks of growing season left in Chatham before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

Why 04/22 isn't a guarantee

04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Chatham compares

At roughly 183 frost-free days, Chatham places 23,911 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within VA, it ranks 964 of 1,178.

Learn more

the frost range covers how to read the range around Chatham's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Chatham can differ from the 24531 normal.