Big Rapids, MI 49307 Frost Dates
Big Rapids, MI: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/13, roughly 258 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 142 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Big Rapids, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Big Rapids's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Big Rapids against the rest of the dataset
About 142 days separate Big Rapids's last and first frost, putting it 36,717 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MI, it ranks 891 of 1,153.
Learn more
Before leaning on 49307's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Big Rapids can differ from the 49307 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Big Rapids's frost date answer different questions.