Cherry, IL 61317 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Cherry, IL, ZIP 61317
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/24, roughly 239 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/18, about 176 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cherry in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5b around Cherry 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 Cherry's last frost
04/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/11 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 Cherry compares
About 176 days separate Cherry's last and first frost, putting it 26,611 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 1,195 of 1,548.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Cherry can differ from the 61317 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Cherry's frost date answer different questions.