Frost dates for Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, 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 26
- 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 1
- 1 year in 5
- October 7
- 3 years in 10
- October 11
- 2 years in 5
- October 15
- Half of years (the median)
- October 18
- Growing season
- about 176 days
- Hardiness zone nearby
- 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 ~-5 °C24 °F · low ~-13 °C9 °F · rain ~23 mm0.9 in
- February
- high ~-2 °C29 °F · low ~-11 °C13 °F · rain ~22 mm0.9 in
- March
- high ~5 °C42 °F · low ~-4 °C25 °F · rain ~43 mm1.7 in
- April
- high ~14 °C57 °F · low ~3 °C38 °F · rain ~74 mm2.9 in
- May
- high ~21 °C69 °F · low ~10 °C50 °F · rain ~99 mm3.9 in
- June
- high ~26 °C79 °F · low ~16 °C60 °F · rain ~116 mm4.6 in
- July
- high ~29 °C83 °F · low ~18 °C65 °F · rain ~103 mm4.1 in
- August
- high ~27 °C81 °F · low ~17 °C63 °F · rain ~110 mm4.3 in
- September
- high ~23 °C73 °F · low ~12 °C54 °F · rain ~77 mm3 in
- October
- high ~14 °C58 °F · low ~5 °C41 °F · rain ~66 mm2.6 in
- November
- high ~6 °C42 °F · low ~-2 °C28 °F · rain ~41 mm1.6 in
- December
- high ~-2 °C29 °F · low ~-9 °C15 °F · rain ~30 mm1.2 in
Where these numbers come from
NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 Climate Normals, the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport station (listed by NOAA as Minneapolis/St Paul Ap HCN, USW00014922), at 44.88, -93.23. 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
55075, 55102, 55104, 55105, 55107, 55111, 55114, 55116, 55118, 55120, 55121, 55122, 55123, 55150, 55337, 55343, 55344, 55378, 55403, 55404, 55406, 55407, 55408, 55409, 55410, 55414, 55415, 55416, 55417, 55419, 55420, 55423, 55424, 55425, 55431, 55435, 55436, 55437, 55438, 55439, 55450, 55454, 55455.
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.
- Hastings Dam, MN, last frost by April 23
- Chaska 2 NW, MN, last frost by May 5
- Andover 1 N, MN, last frost by May 5