Russell Springs, KY 42565 Frost Dates
42565, near Russell Springs, KY: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/18, about 233 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/24, roughly 189 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Russell Springs 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
Russell Springs's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/18 isn't a guarantee
04/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/02 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/03 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Russell Springs against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 189 frost-free days, Russell Springs places 21,588 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KY, it ranks 561 of 909.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 42565: local microclimates, on what one yard in Russell Springs can differ from the 42565 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Russell Springs's frost date answer different questions.