Wenona, IL 61377 Frost Dates
61377, near Wenona, IL: the frost window
Around 04/26 is the usual last spring frost, about 241 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/17, roughly 173 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wenona 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
Wenona'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
04/26 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 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Wenona against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 173 frost-free days, Wenona places 27,995 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 1,324 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 61377: local microclimates, on what one yard in Wenona can differ from the 61377 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Wenona's frost date answer different questions.