Goose Lake, IA 52727 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Goose Lake, IA?
Around 04/22 is the usual last spring frost, about 237 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/16, about 175 frost-free days later.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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 Goose Lake, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 7 weeks of growing season left in Goose Lake before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/09 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Goose Lake compares
At roughly 175 frost-free days, Goose Lake places 27,242 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 178 of 1,042.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5a and Goose Lake's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Goose Lake's dates instead of trusting one.