What USDA hardiness zone is McDowell County, West Virginia?

Every ZIP code in McDowell County, West Virginia is USDA hardiness zone 7a, from the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

When is the last spring frost in McDowell County, West Virginia?

The median last spring freeze runs April 15 – April 27 across the 5 NOAA weather stations serving McDowell County, West Virginia, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

West Virginia

Planting zones in McDowell County, West Virginia

Every ZIP code in this county is USDA zone 7a — so unlike most of the places people look up, there is one right answer here and it holds wherever you are in the county.

USDA zone 7a The same in all 34 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 34 34 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 5 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 533 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes McDowell County, West Virginia as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.

The growing season in McDowell County is closing

Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives October 17 – October 28 across the 5 NOAA stations serving this county .

Your next season already has a date

The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around February 18 – March 2 — counted back from a last spring freeze of April 15 – April 27 here.

Every spring date for your ZIP →

These are ranges across the whole county. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.

All 5 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 5 NOAA stations serving this county counts April 27 – October 17 as growing season (173 days). Widening to any single station gives April 15 – October 28 (196 days).

That is a 23-day difference inside one county — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze April 15 – April 27

First fall freeze October 17 – October 28

Across the 5 NOAA stations serving this county. These are medians — half of years freeze later than the date shown — so treat the later end of each range as the cautious one.

The growing season runs 173–194 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 81.3–82.7 °F in June–August. Summer rain over the same months runs 12.9–14.6" across those 4 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. At the middle station that is covered, so watering in McDowell County is for the gaps between storms rather than the whole season. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 82 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

Every ZIP code in McDowell County

Zones are published per ZIP code, not per county, so this is the exact answer rather than the county's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.

ZIP code	USDA zone	Nearest NOAA station	Distance
24808	7a	Elkhorn, WV	6.5 km
24811	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	22.6 km
24813	7a	Elkhorn, WV	28.0 km
24815	7a	Richlands, VA	21.2 km
24816	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	18.3 km
24817	7a	Grundy, VA	24.5 km
24826	7a	Elkhorn, WV	21.9 km
24828	7a	Pineville, WV	14.7 km
24830	7a	Elkhorn, WV	14.8 km
24831	7a	Elkhorn, WV	4.1 km
24836	7a	Elkhorn, WV	12.9 km
24843	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	16.1 km
24844	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	12.2 km
24846	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	9.6 km
24848	7a	Elkhorn, WV	12.2 km
24850	7a	Grundy, VA	20.9 km
24853	7a	Elkhorn, WV	12.9 km
24855	7a	Elkhorn, WV	3.0 km
24861	7a	Elkhorn, WV	5.4 km
24862	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	18.0 km
24866	7a	Elkhorn, WV	21.7 km
24868	7a	Elkhorn, WV	5.9 km
24871	7a	Elkhorn, WV	11.4 km
24872	7a	Rd Bailey Lake, WV	18.4 km
24873	7a	Grundy, VA	20.0 km
24878	7a	Pineville, WV	16.7 km
24879	7a	Richlands, VA	24.5 km
24881	7a	Pineville, WV	18.8 km
24884	7a	Elkhorn, WV	18.1 km
24887	7a	Elkhorn, WV	1.9 km
24888	7a	Elkhorn, WV	7.6 km
24892	7a	Richlands, VA	26.4 km
24894	7a	Richlands, VA	19.3 km
24895	7a	Elkhorn, WV	15.7 km

ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.

When to start seeds in McDowell County

Every date below is anchored on the last spring freeze at each station and reported as a range across all 5 of them, because no one station speaks for the county.

Crop	Job	When	Offset
🧅 Green Onions	Start indoors	February 18 – March 2	8 wk before
🌶️ Peppers	Start indoors	February 18 – March 2	8 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Collards	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Kale	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🫛 Peas	Direct sow	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Spinach	Direct sow	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🍠 Sweet Potato	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🍅 Tomatoes	Start indoors	March 4 – March 16	6 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Start indoors	March 11 – March 23	5 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Start indoors	March 11 – March 23	5 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Start indoors	March 11 – March 23	5 wk before
🥬 Arugula	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🥬 Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🥕 Beets	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🥬 Mustard Greens	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🌶️ Okra	Start indoors	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🌱 Radishes	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🥔 Turnips	Direct sow	March 18 – March 30	4 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Set out	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥕 Carrots	Direct sow	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Direct sow	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Set out	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥒 Cucumbers	Start indoors	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Set out	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Direct sow	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Set out	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Direct sow	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Set out	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🎃 Pumpkins	Start indoors	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🎃 Summer Squash	Start indoors	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🎃 Winter Squash	Start indoors	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥒 Zucchini	Start indoors	March 25 – April 6	3 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Direct sow	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Set out	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Set out	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🌿 Cilantro	Direct sow	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Set out	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Direct sow	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Set out	April 1 – April 13	2 wk before
🌿 Dill	Direct sow	April 8 – April 20	1 wk before
🫘 Bush Beans	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🌽 Sweet Corn	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🍅 Tomatoes	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Direct sow	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Set out	April 22 – May 4	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Direct sow	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Direct sow	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Set out	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after
🌶️ Peppers	Set out	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after
🫘 Southern Peas	Direct sow	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after
🍠 Sweet Potato	Set out	April 29 – May 11	2 wk after

Offsets are published guidance; the dates they land on are computed from measured NOAA normals. The seed-starting tool does this for your own ZIP code and counts the days.

What lives through a zone 7a winter

Of 74 perennial edibles, 58 come through a zone 7a winter — and 1 fail here for being too warm rather than too cold, needing more winter chill than this county gets or more heat than they tolerate. Among the ones that work: Cranberry, Honeyberry, Apple, Aronia, Black Currant, Elderberry, Gooseberry, Summer Raspberry.

Hardiness ranges are a judgement, published by growers rather than measured; the zone they are compared against is measured. On a warm-end verdict, check with your local extension service — a coastal zone 8 and an inland zone 8 are not the same summer.

Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic

Last spring freeze: Plan to May 14 to be careful. Median April 15 – April 27 across 5 stations; March 31 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to October 5 to be careful. Median October 17 – October 28 across 5 stations; November 7 is the optimistic end.

NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.

The 5 stations behind these numbers

All 5 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 56 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole county.

A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.

These are the stations this county's ZIP codes actually cite as nearest — not a claim that each one sits inside its boundary, since a rural ZIP legitimately reaches over it. Every figure above comes from them, and each is named so you can check it.

Station	NOAA ID	Last spring freeze	First fall freeze	Season
Elkhorn, WV	USC00462709	April 24	October 17	175 days
Grundy, VA	USC00443640	April 21	October 26	189 days
Pineville, WV	USC00467029	April 16	October 28	193 days
Rd Bailey Lake, WV	USC00467372	April 15	October 27	194 days
Richlands, VA	USC00447174	April 27	October 18	173 days

These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.

Your own ZIP

Work out your own dates

This page describes a whole county. Every tool below answers for one ZIP code, which is the grain the underlying data is published at.

Other places to compare

McDowell County sits in West Virginia. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.

More of West Virginia

Counties with the same zones — 7a

Matched on the exact zone set, not a dominant zone, so the winter answer on these pages really is the same one as here.

Gear

If you want to act on this

Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.

Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 7a, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.

Sources

Where these numbers come from

Hardiness zones are the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. Freeze dates and growing-season lengths are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, taken per station and cited above by name and NOAA ID.

County boundaries come from the Census ZCTA-to-county relation, which is what places each ZIP code — and which treats parishes, boroughs and census areas as county equivalents. No station is chosen to represent this county: every range above is taken across all of them and the count is stated, because picking one would be a judgement dressed as a measurement.