Sturgis, KY 42459 Frost Dates
42459, near Sturgis, KY: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/05, roughly 220 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/31, roughly 209 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sturgis in Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Sturgis's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/21 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/21 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Sturgis against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 209 frost-free days, Sturgis places 15,292 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KY, it ranks 143 of 909.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 42459: the frost range, on how to read the range around Sturgis's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Sturgis can differ from the 42459 normal.