Salem, KY 42078 Frost Dates
Salem, KY: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/03, about 218 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 207 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Salem in Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 9 weeks until Salem's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Salem's last frost
04/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/21 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Salem against the rest of the dataset
About 207 days separate Salem's last and first frost, putting it 15,863 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within KY, it ranks 179 of 909.
Learn more
Before leaning on 42078's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Salem's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Salem can differ from the 42078 normal.