Dougherty, IA 50433 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Dougherty, IA, ZIP 50433
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/30, roughly 245 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/06, about 157 frost-free days later.
Dougherty 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 Dougherty 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 04/15 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 Dougherty compares
At roughly 157 frost-free days, Dougherty places 33,469 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 860 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Dougherty can differ from the 50433 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Dougherty's frost date answer different questions.