Kalamazoo, MI 49009 Frost Dates
Kalamazoo, MI: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/07, roughly 252 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/11, roughly 156 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kalamazoo 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
With roughly 6 weeks until Kalamazoo's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Kalamazoo's last frost
05/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Kalamazoo against the rest of the dataset
Kalamazoo's growing season runs about 156 days, ranking 33,503 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MI, it ranks 735 of 1,153.
Learn more
Before leaning on 49009's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Kalamazoo's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Kalamazoo's dates instead of trusting one.