Portage, MI 49002 Frost Dates
Portage, MI: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/29, about 244 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/20, 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 Portage, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 8 weeks until Portage's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/29 isn't a guarantee
04/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Portage against the rest of the dataset
About 173 days separate Portage's last and first frost, putting it 27,769 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 201 of 1,153.
Learn more
Before leaning on 49002's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Portage's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Portage can differ from the 49002 normal.