Frost dates for Westerly State Airport, Rhode Island
Half of years have their last spring frost by April 11, but 1 year in 10 still frosts after April 26.
A frost date is really a percentile from 30 years of records at a nearby weather station: in about half of years a frost still comes after the median date. Both numbers are below, so you can choose the risk yourself.
The odds
Last spring frost
How often a frost still comes on or after each date.
- 1 year in 10
- April 26
- 1 year in 5
- April 20
- 3 years in 10
- April 17
- 2 years in 5
- April 14
- Half of years (the median)
- April 11
First fall freeze
How often the first freeze comes on or before each date.
- 1 year in 10
- October 16
- 1 year in 5
- October 21
- 3 years in 10
- October 25
- 2 years in 5
- October 28
- Half of years (the median)
- October 31
- Growing season
- about 201 days
- Hardiness zones nearby
- 6b, 7a, 7b
- Summer days
- a usual high of about 26 °C79 °F
- Lettuce and spinach run to seed
- July to August, in hot, long days (how we know)
Summer and rain
A growing garden needs about 25 mm1 in of water a week, rain and watering together. Here is what a normal month brings.
Month by month
- January
- high ~4 °C40 °F · low ~-4 °C24 °F · rain ~85 mm3.3 in
- February
- high ~5 °C41 °F · low ~-4 °C26 °F · rain ~70 mm2.7 in
- March
- high ~8 °C47 °F · low ~0 °C32 °F · rain ~106 mm4.2 in
- April
- high ~14 °C57 °F · low ~5 °C41 °F · rain ~99 mm3.9 in
- May
- high ~19 °C67 °F · low ~10 °C50 °F · rain ~84 mm3.3 in
- June
- high ~24 °C75 °F · low ~15 °C59 °F · rain ~90 mm3.6 in
- July
- high ~28 °C82 °F · low ~19 °C66 °F · rain ~74 mm2.9 in
- August
- high ~27 °C80 °F · low ~18 °C64 °F · rain ~89 mm3.5 in
- September
- high ~24 °C74 °F · low ~14 °C57 °F · rain ~97 mm3.8 in
- October
- high ~18 °C64 °F · low ~8 °C47 °F · rain ~109 mm4.3 in
- November
- high ~12 °C54 °F · low ~3 °C38 °F · rain ~89 mm3.5 in
- December
- high ~7 °C45 °F · low ~-1 °C30 °F · rain ~96 mm3.8 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Westerly State Airport station (listed by NOAA as Westerly State Ap, USW00014794), at 41.35, -71.80. These are that station’s own records, unshifted. The further your garden is from it, the less exactly they describe your ground. The planner finds the nearest station to your garden and lowers its confidence with distance, so no number is presented as if it were measured in your garden.
Cold air also pools in low ground on the clear, still nights when frost happens, so a hollow can freeze while a slope a few hundred feet away does not. No table can know that about your garden. A few seasons of your own logged frosts can.
ZIP codes nearest this station
02804, 02807, 02808, 02813, 02833, 02873, 02891, 02894, 06359, 06378, 06379.
Nearby stations
The nearest stations and how their last-frost dates compare. Together they show how frost varies across your area.
- Providence T F Green Airport, RI, last frost by April 11
- N Foster 1 E, RI, last frost by April 25
- Tiverton, RI, last frost by April 11
- Storrs, CT, last frost by April 19
- Hartford Brainard Field, CT, last frost by April 17
- Meriden Markham Municipal Airport, CT, last frost by April 26
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