Here's when your area will get the first freeze

Fall may have just started, ushering in the time of sweater-weather crisp air, apple cider and pumpkin pie. However, autumn fun also comes with a preview of winter: the first frost.

For many areas of the U.S., this milestone is expected to come this month, according to a tool provided by the Home Gardening Association . Audacy used the tool to find the expected frost date (or the day wen it hits 32 degrees and frosty conditions appear) for 13 cities across the country.

For example, the frost clock in Philadelphia, Pa., begins Oct. 20, and the city is expected to see its first frost event by Nov. 13.

In Nearby Pittsburgh (based on forecasts for temperatures for Mckeesport, Pa.), the risk of frost actually started last month, on Sept.
25. By Oct. 26 – even before Halloween – the town is expected to see its first frost of the year.

If we look further east, to Buffalo, N.Y., the frost watch begins this Saturday, Oct. 5. That town is almost certain to have a first frost by Oct. 28. Even further East, in New York City, the watch doesn’t begin until Oct. 29, and the first frost is expected to show up just before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 26.

Looking towards the Midwest, the Detroit, Mich., (based on Dearborn forecasts) frost risk period began around the same time as Pittsburgh’s, on Sept. 26. The Motor City is expected to see its first frost by Oct. 24.
Chicago, Ill., also began its frost risk period on Sept. 26, but the Windy City is expected to see its first frost of the year by Oct. 16. Minneapolis, Minn., had the earliest frost watch start of all the cities we surveyed, Sept. 20. Its expected to see frost by Oct. 14.

That’s the date that Kansas City, Mo., residents should mark on their calendars for frost watch. There, a first frost event is expected by at least Nov. 6. Going a bit southeast of K.C. in Missouri to St. Louis, the frost risk date actually popped up earlier, on Sept. 29. St. Louis is expected to see its first frost event of the year by Oct. 27.

Further south in Dallas, Texas – where temperatures were in the 90s this week – risk of frost doesn’t really kick in until Nov. 4, and a first frost event is expected by Dec. 9. Down in New Orleans, near the Gulf Coast, the risk of frost starts even later, on Dec. 4, and at least one first event is expected by Jan. 24.

Moving west, the risk of frost in San Francisco, Calif., isn’t expected to start until March 4, with no “due by” date expected for that first event, based on the National Garden Association tool. As for Los Angeles, Calif., there were no predictions yet for when frost might be coming.

More information about first frost in the U.S. is available here on the National Weather Service website.