Balltown, IA 52073 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Balltown, IA?
Around 04/19 is the usual last spring frost, about 234 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/21, about 184 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 Balltown, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Balltown before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/04 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/04 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Balltown compares
At roughly 184 frost-free days, Balltown places 23,690 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 79 of 1,042.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Balltown's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Balltown can differ from the 52073 normal.