Medicine Lake, MT 59258 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Medicine Lake, MT?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/16, roughly 261 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/18, about 125 frost-free days later.
Medicine Lake sits in USDA Zone 3b (-35 to -30°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.
What to do before the first frost
About 3 weeks of growing season left in Medicine Lake before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Medicine Lake's last frost
05/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/04 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/30 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Medicine Lake compares
About 125 days separate Medicine Lake's last and first frost, putting it 38,809 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MT, it ranks 177 of 392.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Medicine Lake's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Medicine Lake can differ from the 59258 normal.