Dawson, MN 56232 Frost Dates
Dawson, MN: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/03, roughly 248 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/02, roughly 151 days after the last spring frost.
Dawson 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 5 weeks until Dawson's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/03 isn't a guarantee
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/21 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/15 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Dawson against the rest of the dataset
Dawson's growing season runs about 151 days, ranking 35,070 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MN, it ranks 494 of 943.
Learn more
Before leaning on 56232's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Dawson can differ from the 56232 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 4b and Dawson's frost date answer different questions.