Buffalo Center, IA 50424 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Buffalo Center, IA, ZIP 50424
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/06, about 158 frost-free days later.
Buffalo Center 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
Zone 5a around Buffalo Center has about 6 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Buffalo Center compares
About 158 days separate Buffalo Center's last and first frost, putting it 33,084 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 816 of 1,042.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Buffalo Center's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Buffalo Center's dates instead of trusting one.