Fruit Trees for Pittsburgh, Cranberry, Monroeville and the Three Rivers, Pennsylvania

In the February 2015 cold snap, NOAA's McKeesport station, down on the Monongahela at 740 feet, read −19°F. The Allegheny County Airport station in West Mifflin, 3 miles away and about 500 feet higher, read −7°F. That 12°F gap tells you most of what matters about fruit trees for Pittsburgh, Cranberry, Monroeville and the Three Rivers: the hollows here are deep enough that a few hundred feet up or down decides which night your tree gets.

The map covers Pittsburgh and nearly all of Allegheny County, up the Allegheny to Tarentum and Natrona, up the Mon to McKeesport and Elizabeth, and down the Ohio to Aliquippa and Beaver. It takes in northern Washington County to Canonsburg, southern Butler County to Cranberry and Mars, and the Westmoreland edge from Murrysville to Irwin. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The big number at any spot is its 30-year planning low, the bad winter night we'd plan a tree around. It leans cautious on purpose, a safe number to plan for and not a promise about how often that night comes. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones. The typical winter is an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's map is built on. The spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Pittsburgh on a still, clear night at bloom.

The middle of the growing ground plans for −13°F; the coldest 5 percent plans for −16°F or colder and the warmest 5 percent for −10°F or warmer. Downtown, the reference, plans for −11°F (MFTC 5b, typical winter 2°F). The warmest named place we checked is Fineview, on a hillside 370 feet above the floor, at −6°F (MFTC 6a). The coldest is Larimer, near Irwin, at −18°F (MFTC 5a). That's a narrow spread by our standards, and nearly everything we sell clears all of it. The spring layer is the bigger story: it runs from about 6°F colder than downtown in the creek bottoms to 15°F warmer on the hills.

Why the map looks the way it does

Pittsburgh sits on the Allegheny Plateau, and the rivers have cut deep into it. The Allegheny and the Monongahela meet at the Point at about 730 feet to make the Ohio, and the plateau tops stand roughly 450 to 600 feet above the river floors. The creeks have carved a maze of hollows into that plateau. Chartiers Creek drops from about 1,220 feet near Van Buren to 710 feet at McKees Rocks. Turtle Creek runs from Murrysville and Monroeville past Trafford and Pitcairn to the Mon, with Brush Creek joining near Trafford. On a clear, calm night each of those floors fills with cold, most of it made right there as the ground loses heat to the sky, plus what slides off the slopes above.

NWS Pittsburgh's Michael Brown says temperature inversions happen on 47 percent of all days in Allegheny County, and that the steep valleys favor them far more than flat country does. Smog and frost settle in the same places for the same reason.

The stations show the pool. McKeesport, at the mouth of the Youghiogheny, runs a median 4°F colder on the year's coldest night than the Allegheny County Airport station, and its median last spring frost comes 15 days later (May 1 against April 16). The Murrysville 2 SW station, in a creek bottom at 860 feet, has the coldest 30-year number of any station on the map, −20°F. The old Irwin station ran a median 5°F colder than the old city weather office station (records from 1891 to 1978), and Pittsburgh International and the old Mt. Lebanon station, higher up on the plateau, ran 4°F colder than it.

The warm ground is the steep slopes right above the rivers, above all the city's own hills. Within 3 miles of downtown the benches 100 to 700 feet up plan for −9°F, 2°F warmer than the floor, and the warmest tenth of the ground −7°F. Fineview, Mount Washington, Polish Hill and the Hill District sit 150 to 370 feet above the floor on slopes that let cold air slide past them. They're also in the middle of the city, where pavement and roof cover 55 percent of the ground (a Carnegie Mellon finding) and hold heat on still nights. The map credits both.

The river floors themselves are a puzzle. USDA's map has the city in zone 6b except along the rivers, where it's 7a. Some lock stations back that up: in the January 7, 2014 snap the Dashields lock on the Ohio read −3°F and the Natrona lock −4°F, while Moon Township up on the plateau read −11°F. But in the February 2015 snap that took McKeesport to −19°F, Dashields read 3°F. We haven't found a published explanation for why the Ohio and lower Allegheny floors hold up better than the Mon at McKeesport. The map smooths it over: at the Dashields lock it plans for −15°F, colder than that station's own 30-year number of −12°F, and at the McKeesport station −15°F, warmer than that station's −17°F. On the Ohio floor you likely have a little more room than the map shows; on the Mon and Yough bottoms, a little less.

The spring layer, the still-night pattern at full strength, is much bolder. Most hillsides 150 to 450 feet above the floor read 8°F to 15°F warmer than downtown at bloom, while Hays on the Mon and Gibsonia and McMurray in their creek bottoms read about 6°F colder, the coldest spring readings of any named places we checked. Downtown sits on the river bottom, so almost any hillside beats it.

Downtown, Mount Washington and the city's hills

Downtown sits about 10 feet above the floor at the Point and plans for −11°F, and the Strip District along the Allegheny plans the same. Hays, on the Mon floor, plans for −13°F and reads 6°F colder at bloom, the coldest spring reading of any city neighborhood we checked. Climb and it changes fast. Mount Washington, the old Coal Hill across the Mon, plans for −8°F (MFTC 6a, typical winter 5°F) and runs about 10°F warmer at bloom; Duquesne Heights plans for −7°F and runs 12°F warmer. Fineview, Crawford-Roberts and Schenley Heights plan for −6°F to −7°F and run about 12°F warmer. Polish Hill, Bloomfield, Oakland and Squirrel Hill plan for −8°F to −9°F and run 9°F to 11°F warmer. In the West End, Westwood and Crafton Heights, 460 feet up, plan for −8°F to −9°F and run 15°F warmer. Watch the draws: Brookline sits in one and plans for −13°F, only 2°F warmer than downtown at bloom against Beechview's 14°F.

On these hills almost nothing we sell is out of reach. Chicago Hardy Fig (−10°F) fits where the map says −10°F or warmer, best near a south or west wall. Bing cherry and Santa Rosa plum (both −20°F) have 10°F or more to spare, and the warm bloom readings make this the place for Redstar peach (−25°F) and Tomcot apricot (−30°F). City trees bloom earlier than country trees, so town warmth helps in winter and costs a little in spring. On the flats, plant apples and bush fruit.

The Allegheny valley: Oakmont, Fox Chapel and New Kensington

Up the Allegheny the river towns sit on the floor at 740 to 790 feet. Millvale plans for −10°F, Etna and Sharpsburg −12°F, Aspinwall and Verona −13°F, Oakmont −12°F and New Kensington −13°F (all MFTC 5b). Etna and Verona read 4°F colder than downtown at bloom. Natrona, on the river bottom, plans for −15°F, yet the Natrona lock station's median last spring frost is April 22 and its 189 frost-free days are the most of any station in NOAA's frost table here. We haven't found a published explanation.

The bluffs are the good ground. Harmar and Springdale Township, on steep slopes 150 to 260 feet up, plan for −9°F (MFTC 6a). Penn Hills, 230 feet up, plans for −10°F and runs 12°F warmer at bloom, and East Deer −12°F and 13°F warmer. Fox Chapel plans for −12°F, with its benches at −10°F. Glenshaw, on a hillside 210 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 12°F warmer. On the bluffs, Contender peach (−30°F; Tom McCamant grows it at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana, and it's the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F), Lapins cherry (−35°F) and Seckel pear (−35°F) all fit. In the river towns, lean on apples like Liberty (−35°F) and Golden Russet (−40°F).

The Mon Valley: Homestead, McKeesport and Clairton

This is the classic Pittsburgh cold pool. Homestead and Braddock, on the floor at about 770 feet, plan for −13°F. McKeesport, where the Youghiogheny comes in at 724 feet, plans for −16°F (MFTC 5a, typical winter −1°F), and Glassport −16°F too; the floor within 3 miles of McKeesport plans for −16°F and the benches −12°F. The McKeesport station has been to −19°F twice (January 18, 1994 and February 20, 2015), colder than the map's −15°F at the station itself, so on those bottoms skip the trees rated −20°F and plant Honeycrisp (−45°F), Northern Spy (−30°F) and Red Lake currant (−40°F).

Get up the valley wall and the picture flips. Munhall, 300 feet above the floor, plans for −12°F and runs 13°F warmer than downtown at bloom, and Port Vue, 360 feet up, −12°F and 14°F warmer. Lincoln, on a hillside 450 feet above its floor, plans for −11°F and runs 15°F warmer, the best spring reading of any named place we checked. Those slopes are the place for apricots like Goldrich (−30°F), sweet cherries and peaches.

Monroeville, Plum and the Turtle Creek valley

The east side runs coldest. Turtle Creek gathers cold from Murrysville and Monroeville and carries it past Trafford, Pitcairn and Wilmerding to the Mon. At the Murrysville 2 SW station the map plans for −18°F, with bloom nights colder than downtown. Trafford and Pitcairn plan for −17°F (MFTC 5a), Irwin and North Irwin −16°F, and Larimer −18°F. The old Irwin station bottomed out at −22°F on January 13, 1912. Turtle Creek is a flash-flood channel too (1911, 1942, 1950, 1954, 1972, 2004, 2009), another reason to stay off its flats.

Monroeville spans 735 to 1,319 feet. The point we checked, 180 feet above its floor, plans for −14°F and runs 13°F warmer at bloom, while the floor within 3 miles plans for −17°F. Plum, on a bench in the East Hills, plans for −14°F and runs 8°F warmer; New Texas, in a draw, −15°F and 5°F colder. Circleville, on a hillside 290 feet up, plans for −12°F and runs 13°F warmer. Out here stick with trees rated −25°F and colder for room: Honeycrisp, Golden Russet and Arkansas Black (−40°F) apples, and Superior plum (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F), since Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior. Keep Blushingstar peach (−30°F; it came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage) for the Monroeville and Circleville hills.

The South Hills, Peters Township and the Chartiers valley

Dormont, 300 feet above its floor, plans for −12°F and runs 15°F warmer than downtown at bloom. Mt. Lebanon plans for −14°F and runs 12°F warmer, with its floor within 3 miles at −15°F. Castle Shannon, in a draw, plans for −16°F and reads 5°F colder at bloom. Bethel Park, on a bench, plans for −13°F and runs 9°F warmer, and Whitehall −11°F and 11°F warmer. In northern Washington County, McMurray plans for −14°F and reads 6°F colder at bloom, Finleyville −13°F and 2°F colder.

Chartiers Creek is the long cold corridor here. Houston, Canonsburg and Heidelberg plan for −16°F, Bridgeville and Carnegie −15°F, all MFTC 5a. Thornburg, on a hillside 220 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 9°F warmer, and Cecil and South Fayette, on their slopes, run 9°F warmer. The South Hills slopes suit the early bloomers: Stanley (−30°F) and Italian (−35°F) plums, Bartlett (−35°F) and D'Anjou (−30°F) pears, Rainier cherry (−30°F). Save the Chartiers floor and McMurray's low ground for apples like Ashmead's Kernel (−35°F) and for Montana Black Currant (−50°F).

Down the Ohio: Sewickley, Coraopolis, Ambridge and Beaver

Emsworth, Glenfield and Coraopolis on the Ohio floor plan for −14°F, and the map at the Emsworth lock reads colder than downtown at bloom. The slope towns do much better: Bellevue, on a bench 240 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 10°F warmer. Sewickley, on the floor at 741 feet, plans for −13°F and reads even with downtown, with its benches at −12°F. Sewickley Heights, 420 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 13°F warmer, and Bell Acres −10°F and 14°F warmer.

In Beaver County, Ambridge on the floor plans for −13°F, while Economy, on a hillside 310 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 12°F warmer at bloom. Aliquippa plans for −13°F, Monaca −15°F, Beaver and Rochester −14°F. Center Township, 370 feet up, plans for −11°F and runs 14°F warmer. Pittsburgh International, where the official city climate record is kept, sits on the plateau at 1,202 feet; its 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F frost is April 26. If you're over toward Akron, the Cleveland, Akron and Cuyahoga Valley map covers you.

The North Hills, Wexford and Cranberry

Close to the city the North Hills run mild: Ross Township plans for −10°F (MFTC 6a), and West View and Shaler −10°F with bloom nights 9°F to 10°F warmer than downtown. Farther out the plateau cools. McCandless plans for −13°F, Hampton −12°F, both 10°F warmer at bloom. Wexford, home of Soergel Orchards and Shenot Farm, plans for −12°F on its hillside and runs 9°F warmer, but its floor within 3 miles plans for −16°F. Gibsonia, in its creek bottom, plans for −16°F and reads 6°F colder at bloom.

Cranberry Township, named for the wild cranberries along Brush Creek that were gone by the 1880s, plans for −15°F and runs 4°F warmer at bloom; its floor within 3 miles plans for −16°F and its benches −13°F. Seven Fields and Mars plan for −15°F, Warrendale and Callery −16°F. Keep the stone fruit on the slopes and the Brush Creek bottoms for apples, Honeyberry (−50°F) and Aronia Berry (−50°F).

Spring frost and bloom around Pittsburgh

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians put the last 32°F frost at April 16 at the Allegheny County Airport, April 22 at the Natrona lock, April 26 at Pittsburgh International and May 1 at McKeesport. One year in ten it runs to April 29 at the county airport, May 14 at Pittsburgh International and May 18 at McKeesport. The last 28°F comes around April 1 to 9. McKeesport gets 172 frost-free days and the county airport 186, two weeks apart on stations 3 miles apart.

In 2012 a warm March pushed bloom about a month ahead, and a frost before March 27 hit Soergel Orchards in Wexford; early reports had only about 30 percent of their apples surviving, and by May 8 losses were put at 60 to 70 percent for peaches and 20 to 30 percent for some apple varieties. April 2026 was the warmest on record in the Pittsburgh region, almost 7°F above normal, and hard freezes came on April 8 and again around April 21, the second with trees in full bloom. Simmons Farm in Peters Township recorded about 28°F on April 20 to 21 and lost its four acres of peaches, though its apples came in at about 90 percent. Trax Farms in Finleyville reported its apples relatively unscathed, and Soergel's stone fruit was essentially gone. At Penn State's Rock Springs farm in central Pennsylvania, the April 8 freeze read 17°F at the weather station and 12°F in the apple blocks.

NC State's fruit people figure 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one, and the spring layer here spreads more than 20°F from Gibsonia to Lincoln. Open blossoms start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's numbers), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and fully open haskap flowers take 19°F. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms and still crop; cherries and grapes, which fruit in clusters, forgive less. So put apricots, peaches, plums, sweet cherries and pears on slopes that read warm at bloom, and apples, haskap and bush fruit on the lower ground. Penn State notes northern exposures are less prone to late spring frost; Bob Purvis likes an east-facing slope, which warms quickly on a frosty morning. A hedge, fence or rail fill across a slope dams cold air uphill of it. Keep grass short through bloom and water a day or two before a frost night. None of the warm slopes help in a windy freeze, when higher ground runs colder.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings in NOAA station records here are −27°F at Claysville and Burgettstown, just past the map's southwest edge, on January 29, 1963. Inside the map: −22°F at Pittsburgh International (January 19, 1994), Irwin (January 13, 1912) and Bakerstown (January 21, 1985); −20°F at the old city station (February 10, 1899); −19°F at McKeesport (January 18, 1994 and February 20, 2015); −16°F at the Allegheny County Airport (January 23, 1936). The planning numbers are built on winters since 1995-96, and those have been kinder: Pittsburgh International's coldest since then is −11°F, in the 2025-26 winter, against its 30-year number of −13°F. Another January 1994 would run about 9°F past that, which is why we'd give anything long-lived room to spare in the cold valleys.

USDA's 2023 map, built on the average winter's coldest night, puts most of the city in 6b with 7a along the rivers, and our typical winter for downtown, 2°F, fits that 7a. Our zones are built on the bad night, so they read colder: 6a on the city hills and the Allegheny bluffs, 5b for downtown and most suburbs, 5a in the Turtle Creek country, the Chartiers valley, the McKeesport bottoms and around Cranberry.

What you can grow here

Most of our list clears the winter here, so choose by site and bloom timing.

The city hills and river bluffs, −6°F to −10°F (Fineview, Crawford-Roberts, Schenley Heights, Mount Washington, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Westwood, Crafton Heights, Harmar, Springdale Township, Ross). Everything rated −10°F or colder fits, and most of these spots read 8°F to 15°F warmer at bloom: Chicago Hardy Fig, Bing, Santa Rosa, Arctic Glo nectarine (−20°F), Javid's Iranian Seedling almond (−20°F), Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F) peaches, Persimmon (Montana Trial) (−25°F), Tomcot and Goldrich apricots, and Montana Trial Pawpaw (−30°F).

Most suburbs and river towns, −11°F to −14°F (Downtown, Sewickley, Bellevue, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Dormont, Wexford, McCandless, Fox Chapel, Oakmont, Plum, Monroeville, Homestead, Ambridge, Beaver). Every tree we sell rated −20°F or colder fits, and Chicago Hardy Fig is worth a try against a south wall. On the slopes: Rainier, Lapins, Stella (−25°F) and Black Gold (−35°F) cherries; Contender and Blushingstar peaches; Harlayne apricot (−30°F); Stanley, Italian and Shiro (−30°F) plums; Seckel, Bartlett, D'Anjou and Harrow Sweet (−30°F) pears; Concord grape (−30°F). On the floors: Liberty, Northern Spy, Golden Russet, Ashmead's Kernel and Baldwin (−20°F) apples, Honeyberry, Red Lake currant and Boyne raspberry (−50°F).

The cold valleys, −15°F to −18°F (Trafford, Pitcairn, Larimer, Irwin, McKeesport, Glassport, Elizabeth, Canonsburg, Houston, Heidelberg, Carnegie, Castle Shannon, Gibsonia, Cranberry, Mars, Warrendale, Callery). Trees rated −20°F clear these with little to spare, so plant with room: Honeycrisp, Golden Russet, Arkansas Black, Liberty and Northern Spy apples; Seckel and D'Anjou pears on any rise; Toka and Superior plums (our pollination maps show what pairs with what); Lapins cherry; Contender and Blushingstar peaches only on slopes that read warm at bloom; Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant and Aronia Berry on the low spots.

Roots are the weak link in a hard winter, and snow is their best cover; at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F under snow with no damage. A snowless cold snap over dry ground is what hurts roots, so mulch and keep the soil moist into winter. Penn State says internal drainage matters more than fertility: water standing more than 24 hours after a spring rain means poor drainage. Pittsburgh ground can be heavy clay, slag or old mill fill, so test first (dig 2 feet, fill, let it drain, refill; under 10 hours is well drained). Penn State's list of fruit troubles in Pennsylvania home plantings includes fire blight, pear psylla, pear scab, cytospora canker on stone fruit, European red mite, European apple sawfly and white-tailed deer. Our cold hardiness calculator sorts everything we sell by the coldest temperature it has come through.

Fruit history here

About 900,000 years ago the ice sheet blocked the rivers near Pittsburgh and backed them up into Lake Monongahela, leaving clay and gravel terraces up to 300 feet above today's rivers. The old orchards we know the most about here are the Harmony Society's at Economy, now Ambridge. Their biggest apple orchard, the Beaver Road Orchard, ran from 8th to 13th Street on the first terrace of the hillside above the river, and the South Orchard, the table fruit orchard, ran down to the riverbank. They grew eating apples, crab apples for cider and jelly, peaches, and Bartlett, Seckel, Gray Doyenne, White Doyenne and Belle Lucrative pears, lined 14th Street and Beaver Road with mulberries, and sold hundreds of barrels of cider in Pittsburgh. Soergel Orchards, founded in 1850, still farms 450 acres in Allegheny and Butler counties.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Pittsburgh?

USDA puts most of the city in zone 6b, with 7a along the rivers, built on the average winter's coldest night. Ours is built on the bad night we plan for: downtown plans for −11°F, MFTC zone 5b, and hilltop neighborhoods like Fineview, Mount Washington and Polish Hill plan for −6°F to −8°F (6a). The cold valleys around Trafford, Irwin and McKeesport are 5a.

When is the last frost in Pittsburgh?

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F frost is April 26 at Pittsburgh International, April 16 at the Allegheny County Airport and May 1 at McKeesport. One year in ten it comes after May 14 at the airport and May 18 at McKeesport. The Soergels in Wexford count early May as the traditional end of frost risk.

Can you grow peaches in Pittsburgh?

Yes. Winter isn't the problem: Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F) and Contender (−30°F) clear every named place we checked. Bloom is: freezes after warm springs took most of Soergel's peaches in 2012 and all of Simmons Farm's in 2026. Plant them on hillsides that read 8°F or more warmer than downtown at bloom, not in creek bottoms.

Can you grow figs in Pittsburgh?

Chicago Hardy Fig has come through −10°F, so it fits where the map plans for −10°F or warmer: city hillsides like Fineview, Mount Washington, Polish Hill and Bloomfield, and the Allegheny bluffs at Harmar and Springdale Township. Down to about −15°F it's worth a try against a south or west wall. In the cold valleys around Trafford, Irwin and McKeesport we'd skip it.

Where are the frost pockets around Pittsburgh?

At bloom, the creek bottoms and river floors: Gibsonia, McMurray, Hays and Castle Shannon read 5°F to 6°F colder than downtown on a still night. In winter the coldest ground is the Turtle Creek country around Trafford, Pitcairn, Larimer and Irwin (−16°F to −18°F), the McKeesport and Glassport bottoms (−16°F) and the Chartiers valley from Canonsburg to Carnegie (−15°F to −16°F).

Why are Pittsburgh's valleys foggy in the morning?

Temperature inversions. On clear, calm nights cold, heavy air settles into the valleys under warmer air, and NWS Pittsburgh says inversions happen on 47 percent of days in Allegheny County. The 1948 Donora smog on the Mon is the famous case. That same cold pool is what makes the river and creek floors the frosty ground at bloom.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.