Kansas City, KS 66112 Frost Dates
Kansas City, KS: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/16, roughly 231 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/22, roughly 188 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kansas City 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
With roughly 8 weeks until Kansas City's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/16 isn't a guarantee
04/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Kansas City against the rest of the dataset
Kansas City's growing season runs about 188 days, ranking 21,789 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within KS, it ranks 345 of 745.
Learn more
Before leaning on 66112's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Kansas City can differ from the 66112 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 6b and Kansas City's frost date answer different questions.