Des Plaines, IL 60019 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Des Plaines, IL?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/16, about 231 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/28, about 193 frost-free days later.
Des Plaines sits in USDA Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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 9 weeks of growing season left in Des Plaines before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Des Plaines's last frost
04/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/03 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/01 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Des Plaines compares
About 193 days separate Des Plaines's last and first frost, putting it 19,725 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 370 of 1,548.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Des Plaines can differ from the 60019 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6a and Des Plaines's frost date answer different questions.