Milpa Gardens

Frost dates for Colden 1 N, New York

Half of years have their last spring frost by May 7 — but 1 year in 10 still frosts after May 23.

Every other site gives you one date. A frost date is not a date: it is a percentile from 30 years of records at a nearby weather station, and planting to the median means losing the crop in half of years. Both numbers are below, so you can choose the risk yourself.

The odds

Frost this late in 1 year in 10
May 23
1 year in 5
May 19
3 years in 10
May 14
2 years in 5
May 10
Half of years (the median)
May 7
First fall freeze, typical year
October 11
Growing season
about 156 days
Hardiness zones nearby
5b, 6a, 6b

Where these numbers come from

NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, station Colden 1 N (USC00301623), at 42.66, -78.68. These are that station's own records, unshifted. The further your garden is from it, the less exactly they describe your ground — the planner resolves the nearest station to your own ZIP and lowers its confidence with distance, rather than presenting one number as if it were measured in your yard.

Cold air also pools in low ground on the clear, still nights when frost happens, so a hollow can freeze while a slope a hundred metres away does not. No table can know that about your garden. Your own logged frosts eventually can.

ZIP codes nearest this station

14004, 14006, 14025, 14030, 14033, 14034, 14035, 14043, 14047, 14052, 14055, 14057, 14059, 14061, 14069, 14075, 14080, 14081, 14085, 14086, 14091, 14102, 14111, 14112, 14127, 14134, 14139, 14141, 14168, 14169, 14170, 14201, 14202, 14203, 14204, 14206, 14208, 14209, 14210, 14211, 14212, 14213, 14214, 14218, 14219, 14220, 14222, 14224, 14225, 14227.

What can I plant here, and when? →

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