Wellman, IA 52356 Frost Dates
52356, near Wellman, 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 10/09, roughly 164 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wellman in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
Wellman'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 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Wellman against the rest of the dataset
About 164 days separate Wellman's last and first frost, putting it 31,018 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 596 of 1,042.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 52356: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Wellman's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Wellman's dates instead of trusting one.