Mentone, IN 46570 Frost Dates
Mentone, IN: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/23, roughly 238 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 180 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Mentone, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 8 weeks until Mentone's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/23 isn't a guarantee
04/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/09 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Mentone against the rest of the dataset
Mentone's growing season runs about 180 days, ranking 24,970 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IN, it ranks 503 of 927.
Learn more
Before leaning on 46570's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Mentone's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Mentone can differ from the 46570 normal.