Dix, IL 62830 Frost Dates
62830, near Dix, IL: the frost window
Around 04/09 is the usual last spring frost, about 224 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/24, roughly 196 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dix 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
Dix'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 04/09 isn't a guarantee
04/09 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 04/25 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Dix against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 196 frost-free days, Dix places 19,072 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within IL, it ranks 329 of 1,548.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 62830: the frost range, on how to read the range around Dix's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Dix can differ from the 62830 normal.