Bemidji, MN 56601 Frost Dates
56601, near Bemidji, MN: the frost window
Around 05/17 is the usual last spring frost, about 262 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/26, roughly 131 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bemidji in Zone 3b (-35 to -30°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
Bemidji's growing season runs out in roughly 4 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/03 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/30 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Bemidji against the rest of the dataset
Bemidji's growing season runs about 131 days, ranking 38,249 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MN, it ranks 834 of 943.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 56601: the frost range, on how to read the range around Bemidji's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Bemidji can differ from the 56601 normal.