Martelle, IA 52305 Frost Dates
52305, near Martelle, IA: the frost window
Around 04/27 is the usual last spring frost, about 242 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/13, roughly 170 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Martelle 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
Martelle's growing season runs out in roughly 7 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
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Martelle against the rest of the dataset
About 170 days separate Martelle's last and first frost, putting it 29,229 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 318 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 52305: the frost range, on how to read the range around Martelle's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Martelle can differ from the 52305 normal.