Valparaiso, IN 46385 Frost Dates
Valparaiso, IN: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/22, roughly 237 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/25, roughly 185 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Valparaiso in Zone 6a (-10 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
With roughly 8 weeks until Valparaiso's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Valparaiso against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 185 frost-free days, Valparaiso places 23,067 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IN, it ranks 360 of 927.
Learn more
Before leaning on 46385's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Valparaiso can differ from the 46385 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Valparaiso's frost date answer different questions.