Watervliet, MI 49098 Frost Dates
Watervliet, MI: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/05, about 250 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/15, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
Watervliet 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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 7 weeks until Watervliet's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/05 isn't a guarantee
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Watervliet against the rest of the dataset
About 161 days separate Watervliet's last and first frost, putting it 32,075 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 578 of 1,153.
Learn more
Before leaning on 49098's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Watervliet's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Watervliet can differ from the 49098 normal.