Northfield, MN 55010 Frost Dates
55010, near Northfield, MN: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/27, about 242 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/10, roughly 166 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Northfield in Zone 4b (-25 to -20°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
Northfield'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
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/12 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Northfield against the rest of the dataset
About 166 days separate Northfield's last and first frost, putting it 30,303 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MN, it ranks 101 of 943.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 55010: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 4b and Northfield's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Northfield's dates instead of trusting one.