Fessenden, ND 58438 Frost Dates
58438, near Fessenden, ND: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/13, about 258 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/28, roughly 139 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 Fessenden, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Fessenden's growing season runs out in roughly 4 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/13 isn't a guarantee
05/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/30 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Fessenden against the rest of the dataset
About 139 days separate Fessenden's last and first frost, putting it 37,267 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within ND, it ranks 145 of 405.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 58438: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 4a and Fessenden's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Fessenden's dates instead of trusting one.