Ferguson, KY 42501 Frost Dates
42501, near Ferguson, KY: the frost window
Around 04/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 220 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/30, roughly 206 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ferguson 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
Ferguson'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 04/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ferguson against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 206 frost-free days, Ferguson places 16,070 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KY, it ranks 197 of 909.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 42501: local microclimates, on what one yard in Ferguson can differ from the 42501 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Ferguson's frost date answer different questions.