Hayward, MN 56043 Frost Dates
56043, near Hayward, 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 10/09, roughly 164 days after the last spring frost.
Hayward sits in USDA Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Hayward'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.
Why 04/27 isn't a guarantee
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.
Hayward against the rest of the dataset
About 164 days separate Hayward's last and first frost, putting it 31,196 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MN, it ranks 121 of 943.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 56043: local microclimates, on what one yard in Hayward can differ from the 56043 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Hayward's frost date answer different questions.