Muscatine, IA 61259 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Muscatine, IA, ZIP 61259
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/24, roughly 239 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/14, about 172 frost-free days later.
Muscatine 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 Muscatine 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 Muscatine's last frost
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/09 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Muscatine compares
Muscatine's growing season runs about 172 days, ranking 28,184 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IA, it ranks 264 of 1,042.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Muscatine can differ from the 61259 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Muscatine's frost date answer different questions.