Braidwood, IL 60408 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Braidwood, IL?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/16, about 231 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/26, about 191 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Braidwood in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Braidwood before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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. 05/03 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Braidwood compares
At roughly 191 frost-free days, Braidwood places 20,754 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 442 of 1,548.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 5b and Braidwood's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Braidwood's dates instead of trusting one.