When to plant in Shippensburg, PA

Planting dates worked out from Shippensburg's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 19

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 24

1 year in 10 by Oct 8

Frost-free days

187

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Shippensburg · 1.0 km away · station 207 m, town 200 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Shippensburg plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 15 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 1
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 10
Broccoli	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 12	May 21
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 22 – Apr 12	Jun 20
Garlic	—	Oct 10 – Nov 7 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Shippensburg

Shippensburg's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1933	Apr 23
1934	Apr 29
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 17
1938	May 12
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 25
1941	May 3
1942	Apr 14
1943	Apr 18
1944	Apr 30
1945	May 2
1946	Apr 21
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 29
1950	Apr 16
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 25
1957	May 4
1958	Apr 10
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 2
1961	Apr 30
1962	May 10
1963	May 12
1964	Apr 10
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 13
1968	May 7
1969	Apr 13
1970	Apr 11
1971	Apr 15
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 23
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 29
1978	Apr 23
1979	Apr 20
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 22
1982	Apr 15
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 11
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 3
1988	Apr 22
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 4
1992	Apr 13
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 23
1995	Apr 6
1996	May 14
1997	Apr 22
1998	Apr 11
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 26
2002	Apr 24
2003	Apr 9
2004	Apr 16
2005	Apr 16
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 11
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 13
2010	Apr 14
2011	Mar 31
2012	Apr 13
2013	May 14
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 25
2016	Apr 15
2017	May 8
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 30
2023	Apr 25
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 9
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1933	174
1934	166
1935	170
1936	184
1937	174
1938	148
1939	185
1940	176
1941	166
1942	167
1943	160
1944	168
1945	154
1946	205
1947	138
1948	183
1949	180
1950	193
1951	195
1952	180
1953	168
1954	180
1955	197
1956	118
1957	145
1958	178
1959	179
1960	171
1961	175
1962	168
1963	134
1964	179
1966	159
1967	191
1968	151
1969	192
1970	219
1971	203
1972	167
1973	204
1974	138
1975	190
1976	181
1977	184
1978	175
1979	192
1980	188
1981	173
1982	184
1983	184
1984	205
1985	201
1986	170
1987	188
1988	169
1989	168
1990	183
1991	192
1992	175
1993	161
1994	171
1995	211
1996	142
1997	181
1998	205
1999	185
2000	199
2001	164
2002	188
2003	197
2004	206
2005	210
2006	206
2007	200
2008	186
2009	188
2010	200
2011	211
2012	182
2013	166
2014	203
2015	175
2016	193
2017	182
2018	186
2019	185
2020	160
2021	192
2022	173
2023	188
2024	177
2025	199

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1933	20.0 °C
1934	19.8 °C
1935	18.1 °C
1937	18.9 °C
1938	19.3 °C
1939	19.2 °C
1940	18.1 °C
1941	19.9 °C
1942	19.8 °C
1943	18.9 °C
1944	19.6 °C
1946	17.9 °C
1947	19.4 °C
1948	20.0 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	18.1 °C
1951	19.2 °C
1952	19.8 °C
1953	19.7 °C
1954	19.5 °C
1955	20.3 °C
1956	18.2 °C
1957	19.7 °C
1958	18.7 °C
1959	20.2 °C
1960	19.1 °C
1961	18.8 °C
1962	19.1 °C
1963	18.4 °C
1964	19.0 °C
1966	18.7 °C
1967	18.0 °C
1968	19.2 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	18.7 °C
1971	18.8 °C
1972	18.5 °C
1973	19.3 °C
1974	18.3 °C
1975	17.9 °C
1976	18.4 °C
1977	19.5 °C
1978	18.4 °C
1979	17.9 °C
1980	19.4 °C
1981	18.6 °C
1982	18.1 °C
1983	18.9 °C
1984	18.1 °C
1985	18.9 °C
1986	19.2 °C
1987	19.7 °C
1988	19.5 °C
1989	18.4 °C
1990	18.9 °C
1991	20.6 °C
1992	17.7 °C
1993	19.4 °C
1994	19.1 °C
1995	19.2 °C
1996	18.5 °C
1997	18.1 °C
1998	20.0 °C
1999	19.9 °C
2000	18.7 °C
2001	19.5 °C
2002	20.2 °C
2003	18.9 °C
2004	19.8 °C
2005	19.9 °C
2006	19.6 °C
2007	19.5 °C
2008	19.2 °C
2009	18.7 °C
2010	20.7 °C
2011	20.4 °C
2012	20.1 °C
2013	19.2 °C
2014	18.7 °C
2015	20.1 °C
2016	19.9 °C
2017	20.3 °C
2018	20.1 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	19.0 °C
2021	19.6 °C
2022	19.3 °C
2023	18.9 °C
2024	20.0 °C
2025	19.5 °C
2026	19.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1933, Shippensburg's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Shippensburg (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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