Parkersburg, IA 50665 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Parkersburg, IA, ZIP 50665
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/29, roughly 244 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/09, about 160 frost-free days later.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Parkersburg, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Parkersburg 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.
The actual range around Parkersburg's last frost
04/29 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. 05/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Parkersburg compares
About 160 days separate Parkersburg's last and first frost, putting it 32,390 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 758 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Parkersburg can differ from the 50665 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Parkersburg's frost date answer different questions.