Frost dates for Kent City 2 SW, Michigan
Half of years have their last spring frost by May 14, but 1 year in 10 still frosts after May 31.
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 31
- 1 year in 5
- May 26
- 3 years in 10
- May 22
- 2 years in 5
- May 18
- Half of years (the median)
- May 14
First fall freeze
How often the first freeze comes on or before each date.
- 1 year in 10
- September 14
- 1 year in 5
- September 19
- 3 years in 10
- September 23
- 2 years in 5
- September 26
- Half of years (the median)
- September 29
- Growing season
- about 135 days
- Hardiness zones nearby
- 5b, 6a
- 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 ~0 °C32 °F · low ~-10 °C14 °F · rain ~67 mm2.6 in
- February
- high ~2 °C35 °F · low ~-10 °C14 °F · rain ~47 mm1.8 in
- March
- high ~7 °C45 °F · low ~-6 °C22 °F · rain ~66 mm2.6 in
- April
- high ~14 °C58 °F · low ~0 °C32 °F · rain ~97 mm3.8 in
- May
- high ~21 °C69 °F · low ~7 °C44 °F · rain ~106 mm4.2 in
- June
- high ~26 °C79 °F · low ~12 °C53 °F · rain ~98 mm3.8 in
- July
- high ~28 °C83 °F · low ~14 °C57 °F · rain ~81 mm3.2 in
- August
- high ~27 °C81 °F · low ~13 °C56 °F · rain ~85 mm3.3 in
- September
- high ~24 °C75 °F · low ~9 °C48 °F · rain ~78 mm3.1 in
- October
- high ~17 °C62 °F · low ~3 °C38 °F · rain ~103 mm4.1 in
- November
- high ~8 °C47 °F · low ~-2 °C29 °F · rain ~88 mm3.5 in
- December
- high ~2 °C36 °F · low ~-6 °C21 °F · rain ~64 mm2.5 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Kent City 2 SW station (listed by NOAA as Kent City 2 SW, USC00204320), at 43.20, -85.77. 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
49303, 49318, 49319, 49327, 49330, 49337, 49343, 49345, 49403, 49412, 49451.
Nearby stations
The nearest stations and how their last-frost dates compare. Together they show how frost varies across your area.
- Greenville 2 NNE, MI, last frost by May 18
- Jackson Reynolds Field, MI, last frost by May 1
Other stations in Michigan.
- Linden Wastewater Treatment Plant, MI, last frost by May 3
- Pontiac Wastewater Treatment Plant, MI, last frost by April 26
- Dearborn, MI, last frost by May 1
- Detroit City Airport, MI, last frost by April 21
- Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, last frost by April 29
When do I plant? · Where the dates come from
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