Lake City, CO 81243 Frost Dates
81243, near Lake City, CO: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 06/09, about 285 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/16, roughly 96 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 Lake City, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Lake City's growing season runs out in roughly 3 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
06/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lake City against the rest of the dataset
Lake City's growing season runs about 96 days, ranking 39,802 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CO, it ranks 537 of 624.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 81243: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Lake City's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Lake City's dates instead of trusting one.