Milwaukee, WI 53206 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Milwaukee, WI, ZIP 53206
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/26, about 241 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/18, about 173 frost-free days later.
Milwaukee sits in USDA Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around Milwaukee has about 7 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.
Why 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Milwaukee compares
At roughly 173 frost-free days, Milwaukee places 27,664 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within WI, it ranks 99 of 860.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Milwaukee's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Milwaukee can differ from the 53206 normal.