Cross Plains, WI 53528 Frost Dates
53528, near Cross Plains, 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 10/15, roughly 169 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cross Plains in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Cross Plains'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 04/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cross Plains against the rest of the dataset
Cross Plains's growing season runs about 169 days, ranking 29,422 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within WI, it ranks 137 of 860.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 53528: the frost range, on how to read the range around Cross Plains's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Cross Plains can differ from the 53528 normal.