FrostDateCheck

Milford, MI 48383 Frost Dates

48383, near Milford, MI: the frost window

Zone 6a

Around 05/10 is the usual last spring frost, about 255 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/06, roughly 148 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Milford 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

Milford's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 05/10 isn't a guarantee

05/10 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/25 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Milford against the rest of the dataset

About 148 days separate Milford's last and first frost, putting it 35,704 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 833 of 1,153.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 48383: local microclimates, on what one yard in Milford can differ from the 48383 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Milford's frost date answer different questions.