Darlington, WI 53530 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Darlington, WI, ZIP 53530
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/30, roughly 245 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/13, about 166 frost-free days later.
Darlington sits in USDA Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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 5a around Darlington 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 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/14 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/13 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Darlington compares
About 166 days separate Darlington's last and first frost, putting it 30,383 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WI, it ranks 179 of 860.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Darlington can differ from the 53530 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Darlington's frost date answer different questions.