Kalkaska, MI 49646 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Kalkaska, MI, ZIP 49646
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/24, about 269 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 128 frost-free days later.
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 Kalkaska, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Kalkaska has about 5 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 05/24 isn't a guarantee
05/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/07 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Kalkaska compares
At roughly 128 frost-free days, Kalkaska places 38,540 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MI, it ranks 1,046 of 1,153.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Kalkaska's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Kalkaska can differ from the 49646 normal.