Hudson, IA 50643 Frost Dates
50643, near Hudson, IA: the frost window
Around 04/27 is the usual last spring frost, about 242 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/10, roughly 165 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hudson in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Hudson's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/27 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 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Hudson against the rest of the dataset
About 165 days separate Hudson's last and first frost, putting it 30,582 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 499 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 50643: local microclimates, on what one yard in Hudson can differ from the 50643 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Hudson's frost date answer different questions.