Clayton, MI 49235 Frost Dates
Clayton, MI: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/27, roughly 242 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/20, roughly 173 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clayton 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 8 weeks until Clayton's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/27 isn't a guarantee
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Clayton against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 173 frost-free days, Clayton places 28,072 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MI, it ranks 238 of 1,153.
Learn more
Before leaning on 49235's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Clayton can differ from the 49235 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Clayton's frost date answer different questions.