Ashton, IL 61006 Frost Dates
61006, near Ashton, IL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/26, about 241 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/13, roughly 168 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 Ashton, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Ashton'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 04/26 isn't a guarantee
04/26 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/11 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ashton against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 168 frost-free days, Ashton places 29,741 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 1,443 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 61006: the frost range, on how to read the range around Ashton's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Ashton can differ from the 61006 normal.