Chesapeake, VA Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

The last spring frost in Chesapeake, VA comes on March 23 in a typical year, and the first fall frost follows on November 18, leaving a frost-free season of 240 days.

Put April 7 and November 4 on the calendar as well. A spring freeze after the first of them, or a fall freeze before the second, happens in only one year out of ten, so those dates cover nine years in ten. Chesapeake lands within a couple of weeks of the middle of the 100 cities covered here, whose median season is 229 days.

The numbers belong to Fentress NAAS, NOAA station USW00013762, which sits 9.3 miles east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Chesapeake at an elevation of about 20 feet.

When is the last frost in Chesapeake?

One year in ten has a freeze on or after April 7. In nine years out of ten there is still a freeze on or after March 5, and half of years see one on or after March 23.

Spring dates in Chesapeake spread over 33 days from the 90% date to the 10% date, close to the middle of the cities covered here.

First fall frost in Chesapeake

A first freeze on or before November 4 happens one fall in ten. By November 18 half of years have had one, and by December 7 nine years in ten have.

Fall dates in Chesapeake spread over 33 days, about the same as the middle of the 100 cities on these pages.

The growing season in Chesapeake

The season is about as long as the middle of these pages. Seasons here barely vary: the typical year gives 240 days and a short one still gives 219 days, only 21 days less, a steadier record than most cities on these pages.

NOAA counts these days from its own simulations, so they will not equal the number of days between the two typical dates exactly. Every winter in the record reached freezing at Fentress NAAS, so the dates above describe a real yearly event, not a rare one.

28°F dates in Chesapeake

Light frost and hard freeze are well separated in Chesapeake. In fall the typical 28°F night comes on December 2, 14 days after the first 32°F frost on November 18; in spring the last one comes on March 10, 13 days before the last 32°F frost. Crops that tolerate light frost have that stretch to themselves. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after March 27 happens one spring in ten and one by November 14 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are February 17 and December 31.

What this means for planting in Chesapeake

In Chesapeake the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on March 23: lettuce from February 23 to March 2, cabbage on February 23, seed potatoes from March 9 to March 16, then peppers on April 6 and beans from March 23. Peas are the exception to the count: University of New Hampshire Extension says to plant them as soon as the soil thaws, whatever the frost date.

Counting from the late date, April 7, instead of the typical one delays every after-frost crop by 15 days. That is the price of a one-in-ten spring that most years will not need.

Chesapeake's first frost leaves room for only 32 of the 34 fall crops, counting back NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days; for the other 2 the last planting day falls before July. The slowest crop that still fits is collard greens, which needs 118 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 9.

Worked example: fall broccoli in Chesapeake

Take fall broccoli in Chesapeake. NC State Extension lists up to 80 days from transplant to harvest, and University of Georgia Extension adds a harvest allowance of 18 days, so the plants need 98 days before the first frost. Counting back from the typical first frost, November 18, the last planting day is August 12. Counting back from the early date, November 4, it is July 29.

The two answers are 14 days apart, a wide enough gap that the early date is the safer one to follow in Chesapeake.

Spring is the other end of the same arithmetic: University of New Hampshire Extension sets cabbage-family transplants out two to four weeks before the last frost, which from March 23 puts cabbage out on February 23.

About the Fentress NAAS station

The station lies 9.3 miles east of Chesapeake's internal point, farther than most on these pages, so treat its dates as a regional guide.

At about 20 feet, it ranks above 3 and below 96 of the 100 stations used for these pages. In NOAA's file the record is marked R, meaning representative.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Chesapeake, we cannot say how far your yard is above or below this station. When yours is clearly higher or lower, open the nearby stations in the frost dates tool and favor the colder one.

How Chesapeake's frost dates compare

Three cities on these pages lie within a hundred miles of Chesapeake, the nearest Virginia Beach, VA at 17 miles, which makes the comparison below a close one.

• Virginia Beach, VA, 17 miles to the north-east: last frost March 29, first frost November 12, 230 days frost-free; spring frost lingers 6 days longer than in Chesapeake, and the frost-free season is 10 days shorter than Chesapeake's.
• Norfolk, VA (17 miles, north): spring frost ends 7 days sooner than in Chesapeake, and the frost-free season is 15 days longer than Chesapeake's. Its typical dates are March 16 and November 26, with 255 days frost-free.
• Richmond, VA, 87 miles to the north-west: last frost April 3, first frost November 4, 215 days frost-free; the last frost is 11 days later than in Chesapeake, and the frost-free season is 25 days shorter than Chesapeake's.

Take these dates further

To go beyond the crops above, use the spring planting planner and fall planting planner, both set to this station. The frost dates tool shows the full odds for Chesapeake, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

Every city covered is on the city frost dates index, sorted by state.

For Virginia, the state planting pages copy the Extension calendar (Virginia Cooperative Extension) crop by crop and region by region: tomatoes in Virginia, peppers in Virginia, cucumbers in Virginia, summer squash in Virginia, green beans in Virginia, potatoes in Virginia. Set those windows beside the frost dates above.

Where these numbers come from

NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11) supply every frost date here, unchanged from the station's record, and NOAA's documentation defines the probabilities. The city and its internal point come from the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer of places, and the ranking by size from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 city and town population estimates, which put Chesapeake at 254,997 people.

The planting dates apply the count rules in University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension to this station's dates, with nothing added. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

Frost dates are long-term odds, not a forecast. Before you plant, check the local forecast for the coming week, and keep row cover or old sheets handy for the nights the odds get wrong.