Hecker, IL 62248 Frost Dates
Hecker, IL: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/12, about 227 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/20, roughly 189 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hecker in Zone 7a (0 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
With roughly 8 weeks until Hecker's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
The actual range around Hecker's last frost
04/12 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/28 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Hecker against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 189 frost-free days, Hecker places 21,720 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 643 of 1,548.
Learn more
Before leaning on 62248's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Hecker's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Hecker's dates instead of trusting one.