FrostDateCheck

Elwood, KS 64504 Frost Dates

64504, near Elwood, KS: the frost window

Zone 6a

Around 04/19 is the usual last spring frost, about 234 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/17, roughly 180 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elwood in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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

Elwood's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 04/19 isn't a guarantee

04/19 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/03 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Elwood against the rest of the dataset

Elwood's growing season runs about 180 days, ranking 24,949 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within KS, it ranks 519 of 745.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 64504: the frost range, on how to read the range around Elwood's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Elwood can differ from the 64504 normal.