Benton, IL 62812 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Benton, IL, ZIP 62812
Around 04/04 is the usual last spring frost, about 219 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/28, about 206 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 Benton, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around Benton has about 9 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.
Why 04/04 isn't a guarantee
04/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/19 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/21 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Benton compares
At roughly 206 frost-free days, Benton places 15,996 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 90 of 1,548.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Benton's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Benton can differ from the 62812 normal.