Stanhope, IA 50246 Frost Dates
50246, near Stanhope, IA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/03, about 248 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 150 days after the last spring frost.
Stanhope 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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Stanhope'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 05/03 isn't a guarantee
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.
Stanhope against the rest of the dataset
Stanhope's growing season runs about 150 days, ranking 35,394 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 1,013 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 50246: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Stanhope's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Stanhope's dates instead of trusting one.