Des Moines, IA 50315 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Des Moines, IA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/18, about 233 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/20, about 184 frost-free days later.
Des Moines sits in USDA Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 8 weeks of growing season left in Des Moines before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/04 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/02 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Des Moines compares
At roughly 184 frost-free days, Des Moines places 23,380 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 48 of 1,042.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5b and Des Moines's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Des Moines's dates instead of trusting one.