Gainesville, MO 65666 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Gainesville, MO, ZIP 65666
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/09, roughly 224 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/23, about 196 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gainesville in Zone 7b (5 to 10°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7b around Gainesville has about 8 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
Why 04/09 isn't a guarantee
04/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/24 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/28 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Gainesville compares
About 196 days separate Gainesville's last and first frost, putting it 19,033 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within MO, it ranks 576 of 1,129.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7b and Gainesville's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Gainesville's dates instead of trusting one.