Compare Growing-Season Weather

A warm April invites an early planting. The useful follow-up is: warm compared with what, and where? Choose a station and month to inspect the evidence before changing your plan.

Three places, three versions of spring

In the retained April 2026 snapshot, Boston's daily temperature midpoint averaged 1.7°F cooler than matching dates in 2023–2025, while Pittsfield averaged 0.9°F warmer. Both comparisons include all 30 April dates. Select April above to inspect the numbers from the archived NOAA dataset.

That contrast suggests a useful gardening habit: compare a station with your own site before borrowing someone else's planting date. It does not establish a statewide trend or prove that a particular crop succeeded. A soil reading and a record of what happened after planting would make the story useful next season.

Turn the comparison into a decision

1. Compare the station with your site. Coastal Boston, inland Worcester and upland Pittsfield represent different settings; an airport is not your garden.
2. Check how many dates are present. A partial month cannot establish what the rest of the month will do.
3. Measure soil temperature and inspect the short-range forecast before planting tender crops. Historical warmth does not rule out tomorrow's frost.
4. Record the decision and result: planting date, soil reading, protection and any damage. Next year's question becomes more precise.

The chart is an archived observation comparison, not a forecast, frost-date calculator or climate-normal analysis. NOAA quality flags are retained in the raw archive; flagged temperatures are excluded from this display. Source methods and archives.

Check planting readiness · Understand your microclimate · Keep a weather note