Rankin, IL 60960 Frost Dates
Rankin, IL: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/22, about 237 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/19, roughly 180 days after the last spring frost.
Rankin sits in USDA Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 7 weeks until Rankin's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/22 isn't a guarantee
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/08 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rankin against the rest of the dataset
About 180 days separate Rankin's last and first frost, putting it 25,021 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 974 of 1,548.
Learn more
Before leaning on 60960's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Rankin's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Rankin can differ from the 60960 normal.