Dawson, IL 62520 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Dawson, IL, ZIP 62520
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/14, roughly 229 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/20, about 187 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dawson in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6a around Dawson has about 8 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Dawson's last frost
04/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/01 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/29 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Dawson compares
About 187 days separate Dawson's last and first frost, putting it 22,552 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 786 of 1,548.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Dawson's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Dawson can differ from the 62520 normal.