FrostDateCheck

Kalamazoo, MI 49077 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Kalamazoo, MI?

Zone 6a

The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/29, about 244 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/20, about 173 frost-free days later.

Kalamazoo sits in USDA Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.

What to do before the first frost

About 8 weeks of growing season left in Kalamazoo before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

The actual range around Kalamazoo's last frost

04/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/12 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 Kalamazoo compares

About 173 days separate Kalamazoo's last and first frost, putting it 27,738 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 200 of 1,153.

Learn more

local microclimates covers what one yard in Kalamazoo can differ from the 49077 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6a and Kalamazoo's frost date answer different questions.