When to plant in West Lynchburg, VA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 30

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 25

1 year in 10 by Oct 13

Frost-free days

193

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lynchburg Rgnl Ap · 9.4 km away · station 275 m, town 226 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 24
Sweet pepper	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 29
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 3 – Mar 31	Apr 27
Bush beans	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 12
Carrot	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 23
Beet	—	Mar 17 – Apr 28	May 6
Potato	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 2
Kale	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 29
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
Cucumber	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 19
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 14
Winter squash	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jul 19
Sweet corn	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 22
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 11 – Nov 8 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 3 – Mar 31	Apr 10
Basil	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 26

Plan all 65 crops for West Lynchburg

West Lynchburg'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
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 12
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 4
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Apr 18
1952	Mar 29
1953	Apr 21
1954	Apr 5
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 25
1957	Apr 15
1958	Mar 23
1959	Apr 14
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 5
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 11
1964	Apr 2
1965	Apr 4
1966	May 11
1967	Mar 24
1968	Apr 2
1969	Apr 25
1970	May 7
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 10
1973	May 18
1974	Apr 11
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 4
1977	Apr 10
1978	Mar 28
1979	Apr 7
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 7
1982	Apr 11
1983	Apr 22
1984	Apr 2
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 28
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 20
1989	Apr 13
1990	Apr 13
1991	Apr 2
1992	Apr 6
1993	Mar 20
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 15
1996	Apr 10
1997	May 11
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 1
2001	Apr 27
2002	Apr 24
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 6
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 10
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 8
2010	Apr 19
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 25
2013	Apr 4
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Apr 8
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 10
2024	Apr 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1945	210
1946	248
1947	183
1948	196
1949	202
1950	203
1951	198
1952	204
1953	198
1954	208
1955	199
1956	199
1957	195
1958	229
1959	202
1960	196
1961	217
1962	191
1963	202
1964	189
1965	203
1966	162
1967	209
1968	185
1969	175
1970	163
1971	215
1972	191
1973	152
1974	174
1975	200
1976	166
1977	190
1978	194
1979	185
1980	178
1981	195
1982	207
1983	196
1984	218
1985	212
1986	205
1987	185
1988	175
1989	190
1990	196
1991	214
1992	196
1993	222
1994	203
1995	185
1996	205
1997	163
1998	176
1999	189
2000	190
2001	162
2002	176
2003	183
2004	215
2005	175
2006	185
2007	201
2008	172
2009	193
2010	193
2011	205
2012	191
2013	202
2014	198
2015	195
2016	211
2017	215
2018	183
2019	211
2020	191
2021	193
2022	181
2023	195
2024	223

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1945	20.7 °C
1946	19.7 °C
1947	20.4 °C
1948	20.6 °C
1949	20.3 °C
1950	19.6 °C
1951	20.6 °C
1952	20.8 °C
1953	21.3 °C
1954	21.0 °C
1955	20.9 °C
1956	20.0 °C
1957	20.9 °C
1958	20.1 °C
1959	21.3 °C
1960	20.8 °C
1961	19.7 °C
1962	19.7 °C
1963	20.2 °C
1964	20.1 °C
1965	20.2 °C
1966	19.9 °C
1967	18.8 °C
1968	20.3 °C
1969	20.2 °C
1970	20.9 °C
1971	20.0 °C
1972	19.8 °C
1973	20.1 °C
1974	19.6 °C
1975	20.0 °C
1976	19.6 °C
1977	21.2 °C
1978	20.8 °C
1979	19.9 °C
1980	21.2 °C
1981	20.5 °C
1982	20.2 °C
1983	20.3 °C
1984	19.8 °C
1985	20.7 °C
1986	20.9 °C
1987	21.3 °C
1988	20.6 °C
1989	20.0 °C
1990	19.9 °C
1991	21.6 °C
1992	20.0 °C
1993	21.8 °C
1994	20.4 °C
1995	20.9 °C
1996	19.9 °C
1997	18.4 °C
1998	20.5 °C
1999	19.9 °C
2000	19.4 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2002	20.8 °C
2003	19.4 °C
2004	20.2 °C
2005	20.3 °C
2006	20.1 °C
2007	20.5 °C
2008	20.1 °C
2009	20.0 °C
2010	21.7 °C
2011	21.3 °C
2012	20.8 °C
2013	20.3 °C
2014	20.2 °C
2015	20.7 °C
2016	21.0 °C
2017	20.7 °C
2018	21.4 °C
2019	22.1 °C
2020	21.1 °C
2021	21.5 °C
2022	21.7 °C
2023	20.6 °C
2024	21.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1945, West Lynchburg's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Lynchburg Madison Heights Forest Timberlake Rustburg Concord