Merriam, KS 66203 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Merriam, KS?
Around 04/04 is the usual last spring frost, about 219 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/02, about 211 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 Merriam, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 9 weeks of growing season left in Merriam before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 04/04 isn't a guarantee
04/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/17 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/20 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Merriam compares
At roughly 211 frost-free days, Merriam places 14,740 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within KS, it ranks 5 of 745.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Merriam can differ from the 66203 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 6b and Merriam's frost date answer different questions.