Frost dates for Kansas City Downtown Airport, Missouri
Half of years have their last spring frost by April 4, but 1 year in 10 still frosts after April 20.
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
- April 20
- 1 year in 5
- April 14
- 3 years in 10
- April 10
- 2 years in 5
- April 7
- Half of years (the median)
- April 4
First fall freeze
How often the first freeze comes on or before each date.
- 1 year in 10
- October 21
- 1 year in 5
- October 25
- 3 years in 10
- October 29
- 2 years in 5
- October 31
- Half of years (the median)
- November 2
- Growing season
- about 211 days
- Hardiness zones nearby
- 6b, 7a
- Summer days
- a usual high of about 31 °C88 °F
- Lettuce and spinach run to seed
- May to September, 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.
- Hot-weather watering
- July: days run above 32 °C90 °F and nights stay above 21 °C70 °F, so expect to water daily or every other day (how we know)
Month by month
- January
- high ~4 °C40 °F · low ~-5 °C22 °F · rain ~26 mm1 in
- February
- high ~7 °C45 °F · low ~-3 °C26 °F · rain ~39 mm1.5 in
- March
- high ~14 °C57 °F · low ~2 °C36 °F · rain ~53 mm2.1 in
- April
- high ~19 °C67 °F · low ~8 °C46 °F · rain ~99 mm3.9 in
- May
- high ~25 °C76 °F · low ~14 °C57 °F · rain ~130 mm5.1 in
- June
- high ~30 °C86 °F · low ~20 °C67 °F · rain ~135 mm5.3 in
- July
- high ~32 °C90 °F · low ~22 °C72 °F · rain ~111 mm4.4 in
- August
- high ~31 °C89 °F · low ~21 °C70 °F · rain ~119 mm4.7 in
- September
- high ~27 °C80 °F · low ~16 °C61 °F · rain ~96 mm3.8 in
- October
- high ~20 °C68 °F · low ~9 °C49 °F · rain ~82 mm3.2 in
- November
- high ~12 °C54 °F · low ~2 °C36 °F · rain ~46 mm1.8 in
- December
- high ~7 °C44 °F · low ~-3 °C27 °F · rain ~33 mm1.3 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Kansas City Downtown Airport station (listed by NOAA as Kansas City Downtown Ap, USW00013988), at 39.12, -94.60. 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
64101, 64102, 64105, 64106, 64108, 64109, 64110, 64111, 64112, 64113, 64116, 64117, 64118, 64119, 64120, 64123, 64124, 64125, 64126, 64127, 64128, 64130, 64132, 64150, 64151, 64152, 64158, 66101, 66102, 66103, 66104, 66105, 66106, 66111, 66112, 66115, 66118, 66202, 66203, 66204, 66205, 66208, 66216.
What can I plant here, and when? ›
Nearby stations
The nearest stations and how their last-frost dates compare. Together they show how frost varies across your area.
- Olathe Johnson County Exec Airport, KS, last frost by April 8
- Pleasant Hill, MO, last frost by April 8
- Topeka NWS, KS, last frost by April 16
Other stations in Missouri.
- Weldon Spring NWS, MO, last frost by April 10
- Festus, MO, last frost by April 9
- St Louis Sci Center, MO, last frost by April 1