Richland, IN 47617 Frost Dates
47617, near Richland, IN: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/03, about 218 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/02, roughly 214 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richland 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
Richland's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/03 isn't a guarantee
04/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Richland against the rest of the dataset
About 214 days separate Richland's last and first frost, putting it 14,350 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IN, it ranks 31 of 927.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 47617: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Richland's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Richland's dates instead of trusting one.