Tool
Frost date lookup
Your average last spring frost and first fall frost, plus your USDA zone, from the nearest NOAA station. The foundation for every planting date.
Worked example
When is the last frost date for ZIP 60614?
The typical-year result for USDA zone 6b is a last spring frost of April 10 and a first fall frost of November 5. The nearest mapped NOAA station is 5.0 mi away. The cautious and optimistic rows show how much the answer changes with frost tolerance.
| Frost setting | Last spring frost | First fall frost |
|---|---|---|
| Cautious (10% risk) | April 25 | October 24 |
| Typical year (50%) | April 10 | November 5 |
| Optimistic (90%) | March 29 | November 20 |
These are 1991-2020 station normals, not a forecast or an address-level guarantee.
Embed
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The embed resizes itself as answers open, with visible Sprout attribution and a link back to the full tool.
Publisher code
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<script>window.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e.origin!=="https://sproutauthority.com"||e.data?.type!=="sprout-authority:resize")return;var f=document.getElementById("sprout-frost-dates");if(f)f.height=String(e.data.height)});</script>
<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Free <a href="https://sproutauthority.com/tools/frost-dates">Sprout Authority frost date lookup</a> by Sprout Authority.</p>The attribution link is included in the copied HTML.
For publishers and researchers
Download the complete ZIP dataset
The CSV contains 40,502 ZIP rows, nearest-station assignments, 10%, 50%, and 90% freeze normals, station distance, USDA 2023 zone, and directly derived growing-season lengths.
SHA-256 22032060118a3eb5808ec070ddce8d5c6a052f13cb52b27fa79aa7bb191004e5
Method
Each ZIP is assigned to the nearest NOAA station from its Census ZCTA representative point. ZIPs without a ZCTA use the documented prefix-centroid fallback. The table does not estimate conditions between stations.
Limits
These are station normals, not address-level forecasts. Topography, water, urban heat, and other microclimates can shift actual freeze dates. Empty fields remain explicit.
Sources: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, USDA 2023 hardiness-zone ZIP listings, and Census 2024 ZCTA Gazetteer. This transformed table is not an official agency product.
Suggested citation
Sprout Authority. NOAA 1991-2020 Frost Dates by ZIP. Version 1.0.0 (2026-08-01). Derived from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, USDA 2023 hardiness-zone ZIP listings, and Census 2024 ZCTA representative points. https://sproutauthority.com/tools/frost-dates
Turn frost into dates
Build the planting schedule for your ZIP
Use the local frost window to see sowing, transplanting, and harvest work by plant.
Open the planting calendar