Rochester, MN 55904 Frost Dates
Rochester, MN: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/30, about 245 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/06, roughly 159 days after the last spring frost.
Rochester sits in USDA Zone 4b (-25 to -20°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
With roughly 6 weeks until Rochester's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/15 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/13 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rochester against the rest of the dataset
Rochester's growing season runs about 159 days, ranking 32,568 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MN, it ranks 238 of 943.
Learn more
Before leaning on 55904's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Rochester can differ from the 55904 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 4b and Rochester's frost date answer different questions.