Little Rock, IA 56129 Frost Dates
Little Rock, IA: when does the frost end?
Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/03, roughly 152 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Little Rock in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
With roughly 5 weeks until Little Rock'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
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/22 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Little Rock against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 152 frost-free days, Little Rock places 34,872 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IA, it ranks 954 of 1,042.
Learn more
Before leaning on 56129's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Little Rock's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Little Rock can differ from the 56129 normal.