Ventura, IA 50482 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Ventura, IA, ZIP 50482
Around 05/03 is the usual last spring frost, about 248 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 150 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ventura in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Ventura has about 5 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
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/19 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/15 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Ventura compares
At roughly 150 frost-free days, Ventura places 35,360 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 1,005 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Ventura can differ from the 50482 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Ventura's frost date answer different questions.