Clay, KY 42404 Frost Dates
Clay, KY: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/07, roughly 222 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/28, roughly 203 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 Clay, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 9 weeks until Clay's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Clay against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 203 frost-free days, Clay places 16,987 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KY, it ranks 245 of 909.
Learn more
Before leaning on 42404's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Clay's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Clay can differ from the 42404 normal.