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

The last spring frost in Norfolk, VA comes on March 16 in a typical year, and the first fall frost follows on November 26, leaving a frost-free season of 255 days.

Put April 1 and November 8 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. Against a median of 229 days for the 100 cities on these pages, Norfolk has a season 26 days longer, 35th on the list.

The numbers belong to Norfolk NAS, NOAA station USW00013750, which sits 2.8 miles north-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Norfolk at an elevation of about 20 feet.

Norfolk's last spring frost, by chance

Frost is still possible on February 26 in nine springs out of ten and on March 16 in five; only one spring in ten sees a freeze as late as April 1.

Spring dates in Norfolk spread over 34 days from the 90% date to the 10% date, close to the middle of the cities covered here.

First fall frost in Norfolk

In Norfolk the first freeze has arrived by November 8 in one fall out of ten, by November 26 in five, and by December 17 in nine.

39 days separate the early and late fall dates, a broad band compared with most cities here, so a fall crop in Norfolk should be planned against the early date, not the typical one.

The growing season in Norfolk

That is longer than most places on these pages, though not by enough to change which crops you can grow. The record runs from 231 days in a short year through 255 days in a typical one to 283 days in a long one, a swing of 24 days below typical that is middling for these pages.

The season lengths come from NOAA's simulated years, not from subtracting one typical date from the other, so the two will not match to the day. At Norfolk NAS a night at or below 32°F turns up in 100% of years, which means these dates apply every winter.

Hard freeze dates for Norfolk

A wide gap separates 32°F from 28°F here: the typical hard freeze arrives 16 days after the first frost in fall (December 12) and leaves 14 days before the last in spring (March 2). Frost-tolerant crops get a long extension at both ends. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after March 19 happens one spring in ten and one by November 21 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are February 9 and January 5.

What this means for planting in Norfolk

In Norfolk the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on March 16: lettuce from February 16 to February 23, cabbage on February 16, seed potatoes from March 2 to March 9, then peppers on March 30 and beans from March 16. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

The late date comes 16 days after the typical one; choose it for plants you cannot cover.

Fall crops are counted back from the first frost, using NC State Extension's days to harvest plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days. In Norfolk only 32 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 2 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. The slowest crop that still fits is collard greens, at 118 days, and it has to be planted by July 13 to beat the early date.

Worked example: fall broccoli in Norfolk

Work through broccoli transplants for fall in Norfolk. The longest days to harvest NC State Extension gives is 80 days, plus University of Georgia Extension's allowance of 18 days, for 98 days in all. Subtract that from the typical first frost on November 26 and the last day to plant is August 20; subtract it from the early date on November 8 and it is August 2.

That is 18 days between the typical and the early schedule; broccoli planted on the later of them risks a frost before harvest in one fall out of ten.

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 16 puts cabbage out on February 16.

About the Norfolk NAS station

The station is 2.8 miles north-west of the Census Bureau's internal point for Norfolk, near enough to be the city's reference record, though not in the same yard.

NOAA lists it at about 20 feet, higher than 4 and lower than 95 of the 100 stations in this set. NOAA flags this station's record as representative, the code R, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Norfolk, 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.

Norfolk compared with nearby cities

All three of the closest cities on these pages are within a hundred miles, led by Virginia Beach, VA at 16 miles, so their differences show how much a few miles can move a frost date.

• Virginia Beach, VA (16 miles, south-east): spring frost lingers 13 days longer than in Norfolk, and it has 25 days less without frost. Its typical dates are March 29 and November 12, with 230 days frost-free.
• Chesapeake, VA lies 17 miles south of Norfolk. Typical last frost March 23, first frost November 18, 240 days between; spring frost lingers 7 days longer than in Norfolk, and it has 15 days less without frost.
• Richmond, VA, 80 miles to the north-west: last frost April 3, first frost November 4, 215 days frost-free; spring frost lingers 18 days longer than in Norfolk, and the season runs 40 days shorter.

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 Norfolk, 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 Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Norfolk on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 231,105 people here, decide which cities get a page.

University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension supply the planting rules; this page only counts them from the station's dates. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

NOAA's dates say how often frost has come, not when it will. Check the forecast before planting and keep a cover on hand.