Broughton, IL 62817 Frost Dates
Broughton, IL: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/11, about 226 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/21, roughly 190 days after the last spring frost.
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 Broughton, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 8 weeks until Broughton's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
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 03/27 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/26 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Broughton against the rest of the dataset
About 190 days separate Broughton's last and first frost, putting it 21,325 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within IL, it ranks 548 of 1,548.
Learn more
Before leaning on 62817's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Broughton can differ from the 62817 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Broughton's frost date answer different questions.