FrostDateCheck

Bowdle, SD 57428 Frost Dates

Frost dates for Bowdle, SD, ZIP 57428

Zone 4b

Around 05/07 is the usual last spring frost, about 252 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/03, about 148 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 Bowdle, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 4b around Bowdle has about 5 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

05/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/24 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/20 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Bowdle compares

At roughly 148 frost-free days, Bowdle places 35,784 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within SD, it ranks 203 of 378.

Learn more

the frost range explains how to read the range around Bowdle's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Bowdle can differ from the 57428 normal.