Madison, WI 53790 Frost Dates
Madison, WI: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 161 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Madison 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
With roughly 6 weeks until Madison's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Madison's last frost
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Madison against the rest of the dataset
About 161 days separate Madison's last and first frost, putting it 31,920 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WI, it ranks 302 of 860.
Learn more
Before leaning on 53790's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Madison can differ from the 53790 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Madison's frost date answer different questions.