Lovilia, IA 50150 Frost Dates
50150, near Lovilia, IA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/05, roughly 250 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 151 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lovilia in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
Lovilia'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 05/05 isn't a guarantee
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/21 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/19 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lovilia against the rest of the dataset
Lovilia's growing season runs about 151 days, ranking 35,135 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 979 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 50150: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Lovilia's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Lovilia's dates instead of trusting one.