Rockford, IL 61107 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Rockford, IL, ZIP 61107
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/24, about 239 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/17, about 174 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 Rockford, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5b around Rockford 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.
The actual range around Rockford's last frost
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/10 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Rockford compares
About 174 days separate Rockford's last and first frost, putting it 27,315 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 1,224 of 1,548.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Rockford's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Rockford can differ from the 61107 normal.