Elkader, IA 52043 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Elkader, IA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/08, roughly 253 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 146 frost-free days later.
Elkader sits in USDA Zone 4b (-25 to -20°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.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Elkader before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Elkader's last frost
05/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/24 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/22 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Elkader compares
At roughly 146 frost-free days, Elkader places 36,064 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 1,031 of 1,042.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Elkader's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Elkader can differ from the 52043 normal.