Dubuque, IA 52003 Frost Dates
52003, near Dubuque, IA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/28, about 243 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/11, roughly 165 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dubuque in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Dubuque's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/28 isn't a guarantee
04/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Dubuque against the rest of the dataset
About 165 days separate Dubuque's last and first frost, putting it 30,503 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 487 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 52003: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Dubuque's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Dubuque's dates instead of trusting one.