Columbia, IL 62236 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Columbia, IL?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/08, roughly 223 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/26, about 200 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Columbia, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 8 weeks of growing season left in Columbia before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/08 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/23 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Columbia compares
At roughly 200 frost-free days, Columbia places 17,742 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 277 of 1,548.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Columbia can differ from the 62236 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7a and Columbia's frost date answer different questions.