Waubay, SD 57273 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Waubay, SD, ZIP 57273
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/12, about 164 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 Waubay, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 4b around Waubay has about 6 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/17 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Waubay compares
About 164 days separate Waubay's last and first frost, putting it 31,135 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within SD, it ranks 14 of 378.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 4b and Waubay's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Waubay's dates instead of trusting one.