Empire, CO 80436 Frost Dates
80436, near Empire, CO: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/30, roughly 275 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/19, roughly 112 days after the last spring frost.
Empire 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
Empire's growing season runs out in roughly 3 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/30 isn't a guarantee
05/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/17 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/14 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Empire against the rest of the dataset
Empire's growing season runs about 112 days, ranking 39,434 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CO, it ranks 502 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 80436: local microclimates, on what one yard in Empire can differ from the 80436 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Empire's frost date answer different questions.