Cedar Rapids, NE 68627 Frost Dates
Cedar Rapids, NE: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/01, about 246 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 157 days after the last spring frost.
Cedar Rapids sits in USDA Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 5 weeks until Cedar Rapids's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 05/01 isn't a guarantee
05/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Cedar Rapids against the rest of the dataset
Cedar Rapids's growing season runs about 157 days, ranking 33,441 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NE, it ranks 440 of 605.
Learn more
Before leaning on 68627's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Cedar Rapids can differ from the 68627 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Cedar Rapids's frost date answer different questions.