Jewell Junction, IA 50130 Frost Dates
50130, near Jewell Junction, IA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/03, roughly 248 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 150 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Jewell Junction in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Jewell Junction'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/20 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Jewell Junction against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 150 frost-free days, Jewell Junction places 35,337 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 1,002 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 50130: the frost range, on how to read the range around Jewell Junction's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Jewell Junction can differ from the 50130 normal.