Milwaukee, WI 53290 Frost Dates
Milwaukee, WI: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/26, roughly 241 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/22, roughly 177 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Milwaukee in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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
With roughly 8 weeks until Milwaukee's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/26 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 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Milwaukee against the rest of the dataset
About 177 days separate Milwaukee's last and first frost, putting it 25,958 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WI, it ranks 68 of 860.
Learn more
Before leaning on 53290's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6a and Milwaukee's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Milwaukee's dates instead of trusting one.