When to plant in Central City, IA

Planting dates worked out from Central City's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 12

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 27

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

164

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cedar Rapids #1 · 17.9 km away · station 248 m, town 254 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 17 – Mar 31	May 12 – May 26	Jul 6
Sweet pepper	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 12 – May 26	Jul 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 23 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 9
Peas	—	Mar 25 – Apr 22	May 19
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 6 – May 18	Jun 5
Beet	—	Apr 3 – May 15	May 23
Potato	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 15
Kale	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 14
Broccoli	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 20	May 29
Cucumber	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jun 26
Winter squash	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 31
Sweet corn	—	May 5 – May 26	Jul 4
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 28
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 25 – Apr 22	May 2
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Central City

Central City's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1893	Apr 23
1894	Apr 2
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 9
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 24
1903	Apr 30
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 19
1906	May 7
1907	May 11
1908	May 3
1909	May 4
1910	Apr 25
1911	May 4
1912	Apr 20
1913	Apr 14
1914	Apr 21
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 16
1918	May 2
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1925	May 26
1926	May 15
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 21
1930	May 17
1931	May 23
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 22
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 22
1940	Apr 21
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 16
1943	May 1
1944	Apr 19
1945	May 18
1946	May 11
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 30
1958	May 7
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 1
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	Apr 19
1966	May 14
1967	May 7
1968	Apr 25
1969	May 12
1970	Apr 10
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 28
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 2
1979	May 1
1980	May 7
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 28
1983	Apr 24
1984	Apr 24
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 7
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 10
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 17
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 26
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	May 7
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 15
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 21
2013	May 13
2014	May 17
2015	Apr 26
2016	Apr 12
2017	May 3
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 12
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 26
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 16
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	173
1894	186
1895	147
1896	163
1897	171
1898	189
1899	166
1900	207
1901	165
1902	172
1903	170
1904	183
1905	175
1906	155
1907	153
1908	148
1909	160
1910	185
1911	170
1912	185
1913	188
1914	188
1915	187
1916	171
1917	174
1918	175
1919	167
1920	169
1921	172
1922	179
1925	133
1926	133
1927	166
1928	135
1929	119
1930	152
1931	146
1932	156
1933	168
1934	183
1935	152
1936	161
1937	156
1938	183
1939	160
1940	157
1941	186
1942	130
1943	168
1944	175
1945	143
1946	176
1947	180
1948	182
1949	157
1950	155
1951	157
1952	169
1953	162
1954	150
1955	190
1958	146
1959	169
1960	170
1961	148
1962	152
1963	158
1964	165
1965	175
1966	144
1967	144
1968	161
1969	154
1970	176
1971	161
1972	156
1973	184
1974	138
1975	156
1976	155
1977	165
1978	158
1979	164
1980	150
1981	163
1982	175
1983	151
1984	154
1985	170
1986	165
1987	178
1988	158
1989	138
1990	175
1991	162
1992	145
1993	170
1994	160
1995	149
1996	171
1997	156
1998	187
1999	204
2000	176
2001	170
2002	169
2003	173
2004	151
2005	156
2006	157
2007	151
2008	169
2009	177
2010	146
2011	150
2012	154
2013	161
2014	146
2015	173
2016	183
2017	178
2018	165
2019	166
2020	144
2021	163
2022	164
2023	159
2024	176
2025	189

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.3 °C
1894	19.9 °C
1895	19.9 °C
1896	20.1 °C
1897	18.5 °C
1898	19.2 °C
1899	19.9 °C
1900	20.3 °C
1901	20.2 °C
1902	18.2 °C
1903	18.1 °C
1904	17.6 °C
1905	18.8 °C
1906	19.7 °C
1907	16.7 °C
1908	18.4 °C
1909	17.8 °C
1910	18.6 °C
1911	19.3 °C
1912	18.6 °C
1913	19.5 °C
1914	19.5 °C
1915	17.8 °C
1916	18.7 °C
1917	17.0 °C
1918	18.2 °C
1919	20.0 °C
1920	18.7 °C
1921	21.3 °C
1922	20.1 °C
1923	18.7 °C
1924	16.9 °C
1925	19.5 °C
1926	18.2 °C
1927	17.3 °C
1928	17.0 °C
1929	17.8 °C
1930	19.6 °C
1931	19.7 °C
1932	18.8 °C
1933	19.1 °C
1934	19.4 °C
1935	17.8 °C
1936	19.8 °C
1937	18.7 °C
1938	18.9 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	18.3 °C
1941	20.0 °C
1942	18.6 °C
1943	18.0 °C
1944	18.5 °C
1945	17.1 °C
1946	18.1 °C
1947	18.4 °C
1948	18.9 °C
1949	18.7 °C
1950	16.9 °C
1951	17.4 °C
1952	18.9 °C
1953	18.3 °C
1954	18.9 °C
1955	20.1 °C
1956	18.7 °C
1957	19.4 °C
1958	17.9 °C
1959	18.9 °C
1960	18.4 °C
1961	17.4 °C
1962	18.2 °C
1963	18.9 °C
1964	19.1 °C
1965	18.1 °C
1966	17.4 °C
1967	17.2 °C
1968	18.3 °C
1969	18.4 °C
1970	19.2 °C
1971	18.6 °C
1972	18.4 °C
1973	18.7 °C
1974	17.9 °C
1975	18.5 °C
1976	18.7 °C
1977	20.2 °C
1978	18.9 °C
1979	18.1 °C
1980	19.4 °C
1981	18.6 °C
1982	17.7 °C
1983	18.9 °C
1984	18.2 °C
1985	19.0 °C
1986	19.2 °C
1987	20.1 °C
1988	20.5 °C
1989	18.3 °C
1990	18.8 °C
1991	20.0 °C
1992	17.4 °C
1993	17.6 °C
1994	18.7 °C
1995	18.9 °C
1996	17.8 °C
1997	17.9 °C
1998	19.8 °C
1999	19.1 °C
2000	19.0 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2002	19.2 °C
2003	18.8 °C
2004	18.6 °C
2005	20.0 °C
2006	19.4 °C
2007	19.7 °C
2008	18.5 °C
2009	17.8 °C
2010	20.3 °C
2011	19.2 °C
2012	20.6 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.4 °C
2015	19.2 °C
2016	19.9 °C
2017	19.2 °C
2018	19.4 °C
2019	19.2 °C
2020	18.6 °C
2021	20.1 °C
2022	19.2 °C
2023	20.1 °C
2024	19.8 °C
2025	19.9 °C
2026	20.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Central City's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Cedar Rapids #1 (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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