Elgin, IL 60120 Frost Dates
60120, near Elgin, IL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/30, about 245 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/13, roughly 163 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Elgin, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Elgin'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 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/16 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Elgin against the rest of the dataset
Elgin's growing season runs about 163 days, ranking 31,275 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IL, it ranks 1,506 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 60120: the frost range, on how to read the range around Elgin's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Elgin can differ from the 60120 normal.