Gladstone, IL 61437 Frost Dates
61437, near Gladstone, IL: the frost window
Around 04/08 is the usual last spring frost, about 223 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/29, roughly 202 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gladstone in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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
Gladstone's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/08 isn't a guarantee
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/23 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gladstone against the rest of the dataset
About 202 days separate Gladstone's last and first frost, putting it 17,366 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 192 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 61437: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Gladstone's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Gladstone's dates instead of trusting one.