Darien, IL 60516 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Darien, IL, ZIP 60516
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/27, roughly 242 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/17, about 173 frost-free days later.
Darien sits in USDA Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
Zone 5b around Darien has about 7 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Darien compares
About 173 days separate Darien's last and first frost, putting it 27,799 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 1,311 of 1,548.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Darien's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Darien's dates instead of trusting one.