Howard, WI 54313 Frost Dates
54313, near Howard, WI: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/07, roughly 252 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 154 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Howard 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
Howard's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/24 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Howard against the rest of the dataset
Howard's growing season runs about 154 days, ranking 34,225 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within WI, it ranks 462 of 860.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 54313: the frost range, on how to read the range around Howard's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Howard can differ from the 54313 normal.