Donaldson, MN 56720 Frost Dates
Donaldson, MN: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/08, about 253 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/30, roughly 142 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 4a (-30 to -25°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 Donaldson, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Donaldson'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
05/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/25 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Donaldson against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 142 frost-free days, Donaldson places 36,856 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MN, it ranks 710 of 943.
Learn more
Before leaning on 56720's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Donaldson can differ from the 56720 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 4a and Donaldson's frost date answer different questions.