Elizabeth, WV 26169 Frost Dates
26169, near Elizabeth, WV: the frost window
Around 05/01 is the usual last spring frost, about 246 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/14, roughly 165 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elizabeth in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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
Elizabeth's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/01 isn't a guarantee
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Elizabeth against the rest of the dataset
About 165 days separate Elizabeth's last and first frost, putting it 30,675 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WV, it ranks 738 of 885.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 26169: the frost range, on how to read the range around Elizabeth's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Elizabeth can differ from the 26169 normal.