Aurora, IL 60502 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Aurora, IL?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/19, roughly 234 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 185 frost-free days later.
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 Aurora, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Aurora before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Aurora's last frost
04/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/05 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/04 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Aurora compares
About 185 days separate Aurora's last and first frost, putting it 23,003 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 813 of 1,548.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Aurora's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Aurora can differ from the 60502 normal.