Cowen, WV 26206 Frost Dates
Cowen, WV: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/04, about 249 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/12, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cowen 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
With roughly 6 weeks until Cowen's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/04 isn't a guarantee
05/04 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 05/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cowen against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 160 frost-free days, Cowen places 32,488 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within WV, it ranks 758 of 885.
Learn more
Before leaning on 26206's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Cowen's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Cowen can differ from the 26206 normal.