Lafayette, CO 80026 Frost Dates
80026, near Lafayette, CO: the frost window
Around 05/02 is the usual last spring frost, about 247 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/11, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lafayette in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°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
Lafayette's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/02 isn't a guarantee
05/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/18 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lafayette against the rest of the dataset
Lafayette's growing season runs about 160 days, ranking 32,246 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CO, it ranks 94 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 80026: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Lafayette's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Lafayette's dates instead of trusting one.