Ames, OK 73718 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Ames, OK?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/07, roughly 222 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/02, about 208 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°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 Ames, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 9 weeks of growing season left in Ames before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/20 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/24 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Ames compares
At roughly 208 frost-free days, Ames places 15,760 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within OK, it ranks 526 of 764.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7a and Ames's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Ames's dates instead of trusting one.