Kalona, IA 52247 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Kalona, IA, ZIP 52247
Around 04/21 is the usual last spring frost, about 236 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/18, about 180 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 Kalona, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5b around Kalona has about 7 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Kalona's last frost
04/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/05 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/06 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Kalona compares
Kalona's growing season runs about 180 days, ranking 24,871 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 93 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Kalona can differ from the 52247 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Kalona's frost date answer different questions.