Lake City, CO 81235 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Lake City, CO, ZIP 81235
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 06/15, roughly 291 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/11, about 85 frost-free days later.
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 Lake City, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5a around Lake City has about 2 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
06/15 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 06/02 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/30 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Lake City compares
About 85 days separate Lake City's last and first frost, putting it 39,992 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CO, it ranks 558 of 624.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Lake City's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Lake City's dates instead of trusting one.