McKinley, MN 55741 Frost Dates
55741, near McKinley, MN: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/12, about 257 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/01, roughly 141 days after the last spring frost.
McKinley sits in USDA Zone 3b (-35 to -30°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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
McKinley's growing season runs out in roughly 5 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/12 isn't a guarantee
05/12 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 05/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
McKinley against the rest of the dataset
McKinley's growing season runs about 141 days, ranking 37,006 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MN, it ranks 733 of 943.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 55741: local microclimates, on what one yard in McKinley can differ from the 55741 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 3b and McKinley's frost date answer different questions.