Fulton, IL 61252 Frost Dates
61252, near Fulton, IL: the frost window
Around 04/22 is the usual last spring frost, about 237 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/16, roughly 175 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fulton in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Fulton'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/09 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.
Fulton against the rest of the dataset
About 175 days separate Fulton's last and first frost, putting it 26,908 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 1,199 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 61252: the frost range, on how to read the range around Fulton's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Fulton can differ from the 61252 normal.