Eaton, CO 80615 Frost Dates
80615, near Eaton, 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 10/08, roughly 159 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Eaton in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°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
Eaton'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/17 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.
Eaton against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 159 frost-free days, Eaton places 32,640 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CO, it ranks 112 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 80615: local microclimates, on what one yard in Eaton can differ from the 80615 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5a and Eaton's frost date answer different questions.