Hawarden, IA 51023 Frost Dates
Hawarden, IA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/01, roughly 246 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/04, roughly 155 days after the last spring frost.
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 Hawarden, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Hawarden's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/01 isn't a guarantee
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Hawarden against the rest of the dataset
Hawarden's growing season runs about 155 days, ranking 33,989 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 869 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 51023's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Hawarden's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Hawarden can differ from the 51023 normal.