Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 Frost Dates
80033, near Wheat Ridge, CO: the frost window
Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/05, roughly 151 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wheat Ridge 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
Wheat Ridge's growing season runs out in roughly 5 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/05 isn't a guarantee
05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/24 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Wheat Ridge against the rest of the dataset
About 151 days separate Wheat Ridge's last and first frost, putting it 34,948 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CO, it ranks 310 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 80033: local microclimates, on what one yard in Wheat Ridge can differ from the 80033 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Wheat Ridge's frost date answer different questions.