East Lansing, MI 48824 Frost Dates
Frost dates for East Lansing, MI, ZIP 48824
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/28, roughly 243 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/17, about 173 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts East Lansing in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around East Lansing has about 7 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/13 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How East Lansing compares
About 173 days separate East Lansing's last and first frost, putting it 27,773 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 205 of 1,153.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and East Lansing's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around East Lansing's dates instead of trusting one.