Elbow Lake, MN 56531 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Elbow Lake, MN?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/04, roughly 249 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/05, about 152 frost-free days later.
Zone 4b (-25 to -20°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 Elbow Lake, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Elbow Lake before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Elbow Lake's last frost
05/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/20 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/18 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Elbow Lake compares
Elbow Lake's growing season runs about 152 days, ranking 34,796 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MN, it ranks 447 of 943.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Elbow Lake's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Elbow Lake can differ from the 56531 normal.