Peru, IN 46970 Frost Dates
46970, near Peru, IN: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/23, roughly 238 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 181 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Peru 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
Peru'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 04/23 isn't a guarantee
04/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/08 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.
Peru against the rest of the dataset
About 181 days separate Peru's last and first frost, putting it 24,478 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IN, it ranks 464 of 927.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 46970: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Peru's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Peru's dates instead of trusting one.