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When is the last frost in Massachusetts?
In most of Massachusetts the last spring frost falls between mid-April and mid-May, and the first fall frost between early October and early November. The coast and the Cape and Islands are earliest in spring and latest in fall; the Berkshires and the hill towns are the reverse, with a frost-free season two months or more shorter than Boston's.
The table below lists every Massachusetts station in NOAA's 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals with at least 15 years of freeze data, 50 in all, sorted from earliest to latest last frost. A "frost" here is a night at or below 32 °F. The 50% date is the median: in half of years the last spring frost comes later. The "1 year in 10" column is the date after which a spring frost happens only one year in ten, a safer choice for tender plants. We pulled the figures from NOAA's station files on November 3, 2026.
Frost dates by station
| Station | Last spring frost (50%) | Last spring frost (1 year in 10 later) | First fall frost (50%) | Frost-free days | Elevation (ft) | Years of data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Logan Intl Ap | Apr 4 | Apr 17 | Nov 9 | 218 | 12 | 28 |
| Chatham | Apr 5 | Apr 18 | Nov 15 | 223 | 40 | 30 |
| Lawrence | Apr 13 | Apr 29 | Oct 28 | 197 | 50 | 27 |
| Nantucket Mem Ap | Apr 13 | Apr 27 | Nov 8 | 208 | 45 | 23 |
| Chatham Muni Ap | Apr 13 | Apr 26 | Nov 4 | 204 | 68 | 21 |
| Plymouth-Kingston | Apr 15 | Apr 28 | Nov 1 | 199 | 45 | 17 |
| Hyannis | Apr 16 | Apr 30 | Oct 30 | 196 | 60 | 28 |
| Edgartown | Apr 17 | May 3 | Nov 3 | 199 | 30 | 30 |
| Blue Hill Coop | Apr 18 | Apr 30 | Oct 26 | 190 | 625 | 30 |
| Jamaica Plain | Apr 19 | May 3 | Oct 23 | 186 | 95 | 25 |
| Blue Hill | Apr 19 | May 1 | Oct 24 | 187 | 625 | 23 |
| E Wareham | Apr 21 | May 3 | Oct 24 | 185 | 30 | 22 |
| Lawrence Muni Ap | Apr 21 | May 1 | Oct 21 | 182 | 149 | 19 |
| Brockton | Apr 22 | May 5 | Oct 19 | 179 | 75 | 24 |
| Taunton | Apr 22 | May 6 | Oct 19 | 179 | 20 | 17 |
| Hyannis Barnstable Muni Ap | Apr 22 | May 5 | Oct 28 | 188 | 55 | 23 |
| Rochester | Apr 23 | May 7 | Oct 21 | 180 | 65 | 29 |
| Worcester Rgnl Ap | Apr 23 | May 5 | Oct 21 | 180 | 1,000 | 28 |
| Beverly Muni Ap | Apr 24 | May 6 | Oct 17 | 175 | 108 | 22 |
| Hingham | Apr 25 | May 8 | Oct 22 | 179 | 35 | 30 |
| Marblehead | Apr 25 | May 13 | Oct 20 | 177 | 84 | 26 |
| Reading | Apr 25 | May 8 | Oct 17 | 174 | 110 | 27 |
| Tully Lake | Apr 25 | May 8 | Oct 17 | 174 | 680 | 20 |
| Norwood Mem Ap | Apr 25 | May 11 | Oct 9 | 166 | 50 | 21 |
| Bedford | Apr 27 | May 11 | Oct 13 | 168 | 160 | 18 |
| Norton W | Apr 27 | May 10 | Oct 15 | 170 | 95 | 25 |
| Walpole 2 | Apr 27 | May 11 | Oct 14 | 169 | 170 | 30 |
| E Brimfield Lake | Apr 28 | May 17 | Oct 15 | 169 | 700 | 26 |
| Bedford Hanscom Fld | Apr 28 | May 12 | Oct 10 | 164 | 133 | 20 |
| Fitchburg Muni Ap | Apr 29 | May 13 | Oct 11 | 164 | 348 | 22 |
| New Bedford Muni Ap | Apr 29 | May 15 | Oct 15 | 168 | 80 | 22 |
| Lowell | Apr 30 | May 10 | Oct 10 | 162 | 110 | 28 |
| Plymouth Muni Ap | Apr 30 | May 12 | Oct 16 | 168 | 149 | 20 |
| Buffumville Lake | May 1 | May 13 | Oct 10 | 161 | 520 | 25 |
| Haverhill | May 1 | May 14 | Oct 12 | 163 | 20 | 28 |
| Maynard 2 | May 2 | May 16 | Oct 6 | 156 | 205 | 19 |
| Taunton Muni Ap | May 2 | May 16 | Oct 8 | 158 | 43 | 19 |
| Groveland | May 3 | May 17 | Oct 8 | 157 | 30 | 26 |
| Middleton | May 3 | May 20 | Oct 9 | 158 | 110 | 30 |
| Westfield Barnes Muni Ap | May 3 | May 17 | Oct 8 | 157 | 271 | 22 |
| Beverly | May 4 | May 17 | Oct 12 | 160 | 65 | 18 |
| Orange Muni Ap | May 4 | May 17 | Oct 8 | 156 | 555 | 23 |
| Amherst | May 5 | May 19 | Oct 8 | 155 | 145 | 29 |
| Pittsfield Muni Ap | May 5 | May 21 | Oct 5 | 152 | 1,194 | 22 |
| Birch Hill Dam | May 6 | May 19 | Oct 1 | 147 | 855 | 24 |
| Lenox Dale | May 7 | May 21 | Oct 3 | 148 | 1,004 | 23 |
| Vineyard Haven Ap | May 7 | May 27 | Oct 9 | 154 | 68 | 22 |
| North Adams Harriman Ap | May 10 | May 25 | Oct 4 | 146 | 654 | 23 |
| Barre Falls Dam | May 12 | May 28 | Oct 1 | 141 | 825 | 19 |
| Worthington | May 13 | May 26 | Oct 2 | 141 | 1,285 | 26 |
Earliest last frost: Boston Logan Intl Ap, Apr 4. Latest: Worthington, May 13. Stations are named as NOAA lists them; "Ap" is an airport, and "Coop" a volunteer cooperative observer. If your town isn't listed, use the nearest station at a similar elevation: height and distance from the sea matter more than latitude here.
What it means for planting
- Dahlias: plant tubers once the frost risk has passed and the soil has warmed, which in most of the state is late May, after the 1-in-10 date in the table. They bloom from August until the first fall frost, then it's time to dig and store the tubers.
- Garlic: plant mid-October to early November, after the first fall frost in most inland towns, so the cloves root before the ground freezes. See how to plant garlic in Massachusetts.
- Our month-by-month growing calendar puts these dates in order.
We grow dahlias and seed garlic in Groton, Massachusetts, between the Lowell and Fitchburg stations in the table.
Source: NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, annual/seasonal station files, fields ANN-TMIN-PRBLST-T32FP50, -T32FP10 and ANN-TMIN-PRBFST-T32FP50. Frost-free days are the days between the two median dates. Free to reuse with a link back: download the table as CSV.
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