Good Thunder, MN 56002 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Good Thunder, MN?
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/09, about 161 frost-free days later.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Good Thunder, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 6 weeks of growing season left in Good Thunder before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Good Thunder compares
At roughly 161 frost-free days, Good Thunder places 32,128 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MN, it ranks 206 of 943.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Good Thunder can differ from the 56002 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5a and Good Thunder's frost date answer different questions.