Rippey, IA 50235 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Rippey, IA?
Around 04/26 is the usual last spring frost, about 241 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/09, about 164 frost-free days later.
Rippey sits in USDA Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 6 weeks of growing season left in Rippey before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Rippey compares
At roughly 164 frost-free days, Rippey places 31,211 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 635 of 1,042.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5a and Rippey's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Rippey's dates instead of trusting one.