Pukwana, SD 57326 Frost Dates
57326, near Pukwana, SD: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/03, about 248 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/07, roughly 156 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pukwana in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Pukwana's growing season runs out in roughly 6 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
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/19 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Pukwana against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 156 frost-free days, Pukwana places 33,837 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within SD, it ranks 88 of 378.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 57326: local microclimates, on what one yard in Pukwana can differ from the 57326 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Pukwana's frost date answer different questions.