Clark, MO 65243 Frost Dates
65243, near Clark, MO: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/13, about 228 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/25, roughly 195 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clark 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
Clark'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 04/13 isn't a guarantee
04/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/31 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/27 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Clark against the rest of the dataset
Clark's growing season runs about 195 days, ranking 19,361 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MO, it ranks 616 of 1,129.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 65243: the frost range, on how to read the range around Clark's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Clark can differ from the 65243 normal.