Dunlap, IA 51529 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Dunlap, IA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/29, roughly 244 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/08, about 162 frost-free days later.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Dunlap, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 6 weeks of growing season left in Dunlap before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Dunlap's last frost
04/29 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. 05/13 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Dunlap compares
About 162 days separate Dunlap's last and first frost, putting it 31,800 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 710 of 1,042.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Dunlap's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Dunlap can differ from the 51529 normal.