Lake Bluff, IL 60011 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Lake Bluff, IL, ZIP 60011
Around 04/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 245 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/19, about 170 frost-free days later.
Lake Bluff sits in USDA Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
Zone 5b around Lake Bluff has about 7 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
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/15 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Lake Bluff compares
Lake Bluff's growing season runs about 170 days, ranking 28,980 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IL, it ranks 1,392 of 1,548.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Lake Bluff's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Lake Bluff's dates instead of trusting one.