Mediapolis, IA 52650 Frost Dates
Mediapolis, IA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/08 is the usual last spring frost, about 223 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/29, roughly 202 days after the last spring frost.
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 Mediapolis, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 9 weeks until Mediapolis's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/08 isn't a guarantee
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/23 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Mediapolis against the rest of the dataset
About 202 days separate Mediapolis's last and first frost, putting it 17,272 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IA, it ranks 2 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 52650's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Mediapolis's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Mediapolis's dates instead of trusting one.