Lenox, IA 50851 Frost Dates
Lenox, IA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/27, roughly 242 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/12, roughly 168 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Lenox, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 6 weeks until Lenox's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/27 isn't a guarantee
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lenox against the rest of the dataset
About 168 days separate Lenox's last and first frost, putting it 29,738 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 376 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 50851's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Lenox's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Lenox can differ from the 50851 normal.