Matlock, IA 51244 Frost Dates
Matlock, IA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/05, roughly 250 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/28, roughly 145 days after the last spring frost.
Matlock sits in USDA Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 4 weeks until Matlock's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/05 isn't a guarantee
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/24 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Matlock against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 145 frost-free days, Matlock places 36,312 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 1,042 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 51244's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Matlock can differ from the 51244 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Matlock's frost date answer different questions.