Lawton, IA 51030 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Lawton, IA, ZIP 51030
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/29, about 244 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/05, about 159 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 Lawton, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Lawton has about 5 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.
Why 04/29 isn't a guarantee
04/29 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Lawton compares
At roughly 159 frost-free days, Lawton places 32,704 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 785 of 1,042.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Lawton's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Lawton can differ from the 51030 normal.