Mason, MI 48854 Frost Dates
48854, near Mason, MI: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/28, about 243 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/17, roughly 173 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 Mason, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Mason's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/28 isn't a guarantee
04/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Mason against the rest of the dataset
Mason's growing season runs about 173 days, ranking 27,822 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MI, it ranks 213 of 1,153.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 48854: the frost range, on how to read the range around Mason's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Mason can differ from the 48854 normal.