Big Rapids, MI 49338 Frost Dates
49338, near Big Rapids, MI: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/13, about 258 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 142 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Big Rapids's growing season runs out in roughly 5 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/13 isn't a guarantee
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
Big Rapids's growing season runs about 142 days, ranking 36,718 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MI, it ranks 892 of 1,153.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 49338: local microclimates, on what one yard in Big Rapids can differ from the 49338 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Big Rapids's frost date answer different questions.