Lansing, MI 48930 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Lansing, MI?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/01, roughly 246 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/13, about 162 frost-free days later.
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 Lansing, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 7 weeks of growing season left in Lansing before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Lansing's last frost
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/18 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/18 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Lansing compares
About 162 days separate Lansing's last and first frost, putting it 31,570 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 533 of 1,153.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6a and Lansing's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Lansing's dates instead of trusting one.