Empire, CO 80438 Frost Dates
Empire, CO: when does the frost end?
Around 05/30 is the usual last spring frost, about 275 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/19, roughly 112 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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 Empire, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 3 weeks until Empire's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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
About 112 days separate Empire's last and first frost, putting it 39,435 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CO, it ranks 503 of 624.
Learn more
Before leaning on 80438's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Empire's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Empire's dates instead of trusting one.