Here’s When Maine Towns Might See Their First Frost of the Year

Sometimes a stupid question has a real answer.

As much as I'm addicted to the weather app on my phone, I've never fully trusted the idea of predicting weather. My grandfather always used to say that the only true way to gauge the weather was to stick your head outside and look. He was a very practical man... So that's always my final answer on the forecast.

On the other hand, sometimes people ask questions that are completely silly, yet you need the answer. You'll go way farther down a Google rabbit hole than you intended. For instance, on Reddit (comment section was pure gold, btw...) someone asked folks to loosely predict when the first frosts around Maine might be. Duh... the fall. OK, but now I needed to know if there was any real info on the subject. Unsurprisingly, there is!

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'The fall' isn't really the precisely correct answer.

So while anyone can say "the fall" is when we'll get our first frost, it doesn't provide a good glimpse into the reality of when it may set in. I'm no farmer, so I don't have the vested interest other people might. In fact, those in the agricultural/farming industry probably pay extremely close attention to when it may happen.

According to this list at PlantMaps.com, Mainers can all expect frost to hit mostly based on their location. The southern part of the state is more likely to experience frost later in the fall. So Portland will see it a lot later than Caribou. Even then, there are anomalies. Weird as it sounds, Wells and Bangor could get frost around the same time. Even though most of southern Maine kicks off a bit later than Bangor.

So when do those windows of weather start happening?

Loosely speaking, the northern part of the state could start seeing frost as early as the end of September. The interior/middle sections may see the crisp grasses of fall in the first week of October, with more urban locations seeing frost by the middle/end of October.

Obviously, Mother Nature has taught us, this year especially, that she's only kind of on our side. The last couple of years have been unpredictable at best. Heck, last year it was in the 70s until November. But if you're looking at your outdoor plants of all shapes and sizes that might be susceptible to cold, you may want to scope that list...

If these folks are home, you should be home...