Frost dates for Hastings Dam, Minnesota
Half of years have their last spring frost by April 23, but 1 year in 10 still frosts after May 7.
A frost date is really a percentile from 30 years of records at a nearby weather station: in about half of years a frost still comes after the median date. Both numbers are below, so you can choose the risk yourself.
The odds
Last spring frost
How often a frost still comes on or after each date.
- 1 year in 10
- May 7
- 1 year in 5
- May 2
- 3 years in 10
- April 30
- 2 years in 5
- April 27
- Half of years (the median)
- April 23
First fall freeze
How often the first freeze comes on or before each date.
- 1 year in 10
- October 5
- 1 year in 5
- October 10
- 3 years in 10
- October 13
- 2 years in 5
- October 16
- Half of years (the median)
- October 19
- Growing season
- about 177 days
- Hardiness zones nearby
- 4b, 5a
- Summer days
- a usual high of about 27 °C81 °F
- Lettuce and spinach run to seed
- June to August, in hot, long days (how we know)
Summer and rain
A growing garden needs about 25 mm1 in of water a week, rain and watering together. Here is what a normal month brings.
Month by month
- January
- high ~-4 °C24 °F · low ~-15 °C6 °F · rain ~23 mm0.9 in
- February
- high ~-2 °C29 °F · low ~-13 °C9 °F · rain ~23 mm0.9 in
- March
- high ~5 °C41 °F · low ~-6 °C22 °F · rain ~45 mm1.8 in
- April
- high ~14 °C56 °F · low ~2 °C36 °F · rain ~79 mm3.1 in
- May
- high ~20 °C69 °F · low ~9 °C48 °F · rain ~110 mm4.3 in
- June
- high ~26 °C79 °F · low ~15 °C59 °F · rain ~126 mm4.9 in
- July
- high ~28 °C83 °F · low ~17 °C63 °F · rain ~111 mm4.4 in
- August
- high ~27 °C81 °F · low ~16 °C61 °F · rain ~107 mm4.2 in
- September
- high ~23 °C73 °F · low ~12 °C53 °F · rain ~82 mm3.2 in
- October
- high ~15 °C59 °F · low ~4 °C40 °F · rain ~66 mm2.6 in
- November
- high ~6 °C43 °F · low ~-3 °C27 °F · rain ~44 mm1.7 in
- December
- high ~-1 °C30 °F · low ~-10 °C14 °F · rain ~31 mm1.2 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Hastings Dam station (listed by NOAA as Hastings Dam, USC00213567), at 44.76, -92.87. These are that station’s own records, unshifted. The further your garden is from it, the less exactly they describe your ground. The planner finds the nearest station to your garden and lowers its confidence with distance, so no number is presented as if it were measured in your garden.
Cold air also pools in low ground on the clear, still nights when frost happens, so a hollow can freeze while a slope a few hundred feet away does not. No table can know that about your garden. A few seasons of your own logged frosts can.
ZIP codes nearest this station
54021, 55016, 55033, 55055, 55071, 55129.
Nearby stations
The nearest stations and how their last-frost dates compare. Together they show how frost varies across your area.
- Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, MN, last frost by April 23
- Chaska 2 NW, MN, last frost by May 5
- Andover 1 N, MN, last frost by May 5
When do I plant? · Where the dates come from
More ways Milpa can help
When do I plant? · What grows well together? · Plan my garden · What can I plant now? · Something wrong in the garden? · Keep a garden diary · Heard a tip?