Manson, IA 50563 Frost Dates
Manson, IA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/26 is the usual last spring frost, about 241 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/10, roughly 167 days after the last spring frost.
Manson 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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Manson's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/11 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/06 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Manson against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 167 frost-free days, Manson places 30,047 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 419 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 50563's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Manson can differ from the 50563 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Manson's frost date answer different questions.