Rye, CO 81019 Frost Dates
81019, near Rye, CO: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/05, roughly 250 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/10, roughly 156 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rye 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
Rye'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.
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 04/22 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/20 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Rye against the rest of the dataset
Rye's growing season runs about 156 days, ranking 33,849 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CO, it ranks 232 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 81019: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Rye's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Rye's dates instead of trusting one.