Traverse City, MI 49685 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Traverse City, MI, ZIP 49685
Around 05/09 is the usual last spring frost, about 254 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/15, about 156 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Traverse City in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around Traverse City has about 7 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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/26 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/23 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Traverse City compares
At roughly 156 frost-free days, Traverse City places 33,543 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MI, it ranks 737 of 1,153.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Traverse City can differ from the 49685 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Traverse City's frost date answer different questions.