Malta, IL 60111 Frost Dates
60111, near Malta, IL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/24, about 239 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/18, roughly 177 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Malta in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Malta's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/24 isn't a guarantee
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Malta against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 177 frost-free days, Malta places 26,176 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 1,129 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 60111: the frost range, on how to read the range around Malta's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Malta can differ from the 60111 normal.