Des Moines, NM 88419 Frost Dates
88419, near Des Moines, NM: the frost window
Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/09, roughly 156 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Des Moines in Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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
Des Moines'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 04/23 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.
Des Moines against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 156 frost-free days, Des Moines places 33,879 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within NM, it ranks 252 of 427.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 88419: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6b and Des Moines's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Des Moines's dates instead of trusting one.