Marquette, IA 52158 Frost Dates
52158, near Marquette, 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 10/12, roughly 166 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Marquette 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
Marquette'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Marquette against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 166 frost-free days, Marquette places 30,437 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 471 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 52158: local microclimates, on what one yard in Marquette can differ from the 52158 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Marquette's frost date answer different questions.