Columbia, MO 65205 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Columbia, MO?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/05, about 220 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/31, about 207 frost-free days later.
Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Columbia, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 9 weeks of growing season left in Columbia before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Columbia's last frost
04/05 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 Columbia compares
Columbia's growing season runs about 207 days, ranking 15,783 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MO, it ranks 195 of 1,129.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Columbia can differ from the 65205 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6b and Columbia's frost date answer different questions.