Nappanee, IN 46550 Frost Dates
46550, near Nappanee, IN: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/26, about 241 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 175 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Nappanee 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
Nappanee'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 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Nappanee against the rest of the dataset
Nappanee's growing season runs about 175 days, ranking 26,866 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IN, it ranks 629 of 927.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 46550: local microclimates, on what one yard in Nappanee can differ from the 46550 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Nappanee's frost date answer different questions.