Barnum, IA 50518 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Barnum, IA?
Around 04/28 is the usual last spring frost, about 243 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/08, about 162 frost-free days later.
Barnum 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
About 6 weeks of growing season left in Barnum before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/28 isn't a guarantee
04/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/13 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Barnum compares
At roughly 162 frost-free days, Barnum places 31,879 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 736 of 1,042.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Barnum's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Barnum can differ from the 50518 normal.