Cowden, IL 62444 Frost Dates
62444, near Cowden, IL: the frost window
Around 04/16 is the usual last spring frost, about 231 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/22, roughly 187 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cowden in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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
Cowden'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/03 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/30 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cowden against the rest of the dataset
Cowden's growing season runs about 187 days, ranking 22,555 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within IL, it ranks 789 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 62444: the frost range, on how to read the range around Cowden's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Cowden can differ from the 62444 normal.