Shell Lake, WI 54871 Frost Dates
Shell Lake, WI: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/14, about 259 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/28, roughly 135 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shell Lake in Zone 4a (-30 to -25°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 4 weeks until Shell Lake's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Shell Lake's last frost
05/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/30 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/29 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Shell Lake against the rest of the dataset
About 135 days separate Shell Lake's last and first frost, putting it 37,881 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within WI, it ranks 775 of 860.
Learn more
Before leaning on 54871's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 4a and Shell Lake's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Shell Lake's dates instead of trusting one.