Ward, CO 80481 Frost Dates
80481, near Ward, CO: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 06/21, about 297 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/02, roughly 71 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Ward, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Ward's growing season runs out in roughly 1 week — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
06/21 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 06/07 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 07/04 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ward against the rest of the dataset
Ward's growing season runs about 71 days, ranking 40,119 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CO, it ranks 580 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 80481: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Ward's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Ward's dates instead of trusting one.