Columbia, SD 57433 Frost Dates
Columbia, SD: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/09, about 254 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/26, roughly 139 days after the last spring frost.
Columbia sits in USDA Zone 4a (-30 to -25°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 4 weeks until Columbia's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/09 isn't a guarantee
05/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/22 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Columbia against the rest of the dataset
About 139 days separate Columbia's last and first frost, putting it 37,289 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within SD, it ranks 323 of 378.
Learn more
Before leaning on 57433's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Columbia's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Columbia can differ from the 57433 normal.