Stanford, IL 61774 Frost Dates
61774, near Stanford, IL: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/21, about 236 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/17, roughly 178 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stanford 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
Stanford'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.
Why 04/21 isn't a guarantee
04/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/07 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Stanford against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 178 frost-free days, Stanford places 25,865 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 1,098 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 61774: the frost range, on how to read the range around Stanford's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Stanford can differ from the 61774 normal.