Elkhorn, WI 53121 Frost Dates
53121, near Elkhorn, WI: the frost window
Around 04/28 is the usual last spring frost, about 243 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/14, roughly 168 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elkhorn 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
Elkhorn'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.
Why 04/28 isn't a guarantee
04/28 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 05/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Elkhorn against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 168 frost-free days, Elkhorn places 29,689 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within WI, it ranks 139 of 860.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 53121: local microclimates, on what one yard in Elkhorn can differ from the 53121 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Elkhorn's frost date answer different questions.