Randall, IA 50231 Frost Dates
50231, near Randall, IA: the frost window
Around 04/26 is the usual last spring frost, about 241 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/08, roughly 164 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Randall 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
Randall's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
The actual range around Randall's last frost
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/11 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/09 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Randall against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 164 frost-free days, Randall places 31,222 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 640 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 50231: local microclimates, on what one yard in Randall can differ from the 50231 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Randall's frost date answer different questions.