Lima, IL 62348 Frost Dates
62348, near Lima, IL: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/11, roughly 226 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/23, roughly 194 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lima 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
Lima's growing season runs out in roughly 8 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/11 isn't a guarantee
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/29 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/29 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lima against the rest of the dataset
Lima's growing season runs about 194 days, ranking 19,645 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IL, it ranks 365 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 62348: local microclimates, on what one yard in Lima can differ from the 62348 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Lima's frost date answer different questions.