Ekalaka, MT 59316 Frost Dates
Ekalaka, MT: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/17, about 262 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/22, roughly 127 days after the last spring frost.
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 Ekalaka, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 4 weeks until Ekalaka's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ekalaka against the rest of the dataset
About 127 days separate Ekalaka's last and first frost, putting it 38,654 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MT, it ranks 153 of 392.
Learn more
Before leaning on 59316's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Ekalaka's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Ekalaka can differ from the 59316 normal.