Ankeny, IA 50331 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Ankeny, IA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/23, roughly 238 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/15, about 173 frost-free days later.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Ankeny, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 7 weeks of growing season left in Ankeny before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Ankeny's last frost
04/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/08 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/06 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Ankeny compares
About 173 days separate Ankeny's last and first frost, putting it 27,700 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 226 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Ankeny can differ from the 50331 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5b and Ankeny's frost date answer different questions.