Last frost dates in Rhode Island
11 NOAA weather stations in Rhode Island have thirty years of frost records. The median station sees its last 32 °F night around Apr 22; across the state that ranges from Apr 7 to May 3, so pick the station nearest you rather than a state-wide figure.
| Plan sowing from this date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEWPORT ROSE | Apr 7 | Apr 21 | Mar 28 | Nov 13 | 216 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| NEWPORT STATE AP | Apr 11 | Apr 24 | Mar 31 | Nov 4 | 206 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| PROVIDENCE T F GREEN AP | Apr 11 | Apr 23 | Apr 1 | Oct 30 | 199 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| TIVERTON | Apr 11 | Apr 22 | Apr 1 | Nov 2 | 203 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| WESTERLY STATE AP | Apr 11 | Apr 26 | Mar 31 | Oct 31 | 201 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| COVENTRY 2 | Apr 22 | May 4 | Apr 10 | Oct 20 | 179 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| WOONSOCKET | Apr 22 | May 6 | Apr 9 | Oct 19 | 179 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| N FOSTER 1 E | Apr 25 | May 9 | Apr 13 | Oct 19 | 176 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| KINGSTON 1 NW | Apr 27 | May 11 | Apr 14 | Oct 15 | 171 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| KINGSTON 1 W | May 1 | May 18 | Apr 19 | Oct 12 | 163 | Plan sowing from this date → |
| KINGSTON | May 3 | May 16 | Apr 21 | Oct 8 | 159 | Plan sowing from this date → |
How to read the three dates
Average is the date by which, in half of the years between 1991 and 2020, the last 32 °F night had already happened. Safe is later: only one year in ten saw a frost after it, which is the date to transplant tomatoes and peppers, both killed by a single frost. Early is the risky end, with a frost after it in nine years out of ten.
Every figure is for the weather station, not for your garden. A valley bottom, a north slope or a spot near a lake can run a week or two either way. Cities are warmer than the countryside around them.
Where the numbers come from
The dates are NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991 to 2020, computed by the National Centers for Environmental Information for every station with thirty years of daily minimum temperatures. ZIP codes are matched to the nearest such station within 150 km using U.S. Census Bureau ZIP Code Tabulation Area centroids. Stations that never see a frost, such as much of south Florida, report no date and are left out.