Odebolt, IA 51458 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Odebolt, IA, ZIP 51458
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/06, about 158 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 Odebolt, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Odebolt has about 6 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 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/15 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/11 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Odebolt compares
At roughly 158 frost-free days, Odebolt places 33,072 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 814 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Odebolt can differ from the 51458 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Odebolt's frost date answer different questions.