Burlington, IA 52601 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Burlington, IA, ZIP 52601
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/15, roughly 230 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/20, about 187 frost-free days later.
Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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 Burlington, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around Burlington has about 8 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 Burlington's last frost
04/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/02 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/01 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Burlington compares
About 187 days separate Burlington's last and first frost, putting it 22,295 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 13 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Burlington can differ from the 52601 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Burlington's frost date answer different questions.