Austin, MN 55912 Frost Dates
55912, near Austin, MN: the frost window
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 158 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Austin 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
Austin'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 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Austin against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 158 frost-free days, Austin places 32,915 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MN, it ranks 282 of 943.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 55912: the frost range, on how to read the range around Austin's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Austin can differ from the 55912 normal.