FrostDateCheck

Parkersburg, WV 26142 Frost Dates

Frost dates for Parkersburg, WV, ZIP 26142

Zone 6b

Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/14, roughly 229 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/30, about 197 frost-free days later.

Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Parkersburg, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 6b around Parkersburg has about 9 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 04/14 isn't a guarantee

04/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/31 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/02 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Parkersburg compares

Parkersburg's growing season runs about 197 days, ranking 18,630 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within WV, it ranks 145 of 885.

Learn more

zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and Parkersburg's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Parkersburg's dates instead of trusting one.