Estherville, IA 51334 Frost Dates
Estherville, IA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/02, roughly 247 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/03, roughly 153 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 Estherville, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Estherville's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/02 isn't a guarantee
05/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/18 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.
Estherville against the rest of the dataset
Estherville's growing season runs about 153 days, ranking 34,527 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 917 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 51334's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Estherville's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Estherville can differ from the 51334 normal.