When to plant in Parkersburg, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 28

Frost-free days

165

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Allison · 19.6 km away · station 316 m, town 296 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Parkersburg plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 16 – Mar 30	May 11 – May 25	Jul 5
Sweet pepper	Mar 2 – Mar 16	May 11 – May 25	Jul 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 27 – Mar 6	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 13
Peas	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 28
Bush beans	—	May 4 – May 25	Jun 23
Carrot	—	Apr 12 – May 24	Jun 11
Beet	—	Apr 12 – May 24	Jun 1
Potato	—	Apr 12 – May 3	Jun 21
Kale	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 23
Broccoli	Feb 20 – Mar 6	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 2
Cucumber	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 25
Winter squash	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jul 30
Sweet corn	—	May 4 – May 25	Jul 3
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jul 2
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 11
Basil	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 11 – May 25	Jul 7

Plan all 65 crops for Parkersburg

Parkersburg'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
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 17
1916	May 18
1918	May 13
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 25
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 30
1928	Apr 28
1931	May 21
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 26
1937	May 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 10
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 24
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 4
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 1
1961	May 3
1962	May 2
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 11
1967	May 6
1968	May 5
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1973	May 3
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 4
1978	May 2
1980	Apr 24
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 29
1983	May 15
1984	Apr 30
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 7
1990	May 1
1991	Apr 10
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 21
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 19
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 17
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 21
2002	Apr 26
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 21
2010	May 10
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 13
2013	May 13
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	May 16
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 26
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 2
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 15
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1914	187
1915	104
1916	121
1918	129
1919	167
1920	155
1921	140
1922	162
1923	127
1924	160
1925	134
1926	144
1927	142
1928	147
1932	160
1933	167
1935	145
1936	178
1937	127
1938	182
1939	161
1940	164
1941	185
1942	156
1943	165
1944	155
1945	141
1947	119
1949	157
1951	154
1952	161
1953	165
1954	161
1955	159
1956	145
1957	158
1958	148
1959	171
1960	170
1961	147
1962	173
1963	158
1964	181
1965	166
1966	142
1967	144
1968	151
1969	154
1970	160
1971	168
1973	179
1974	138
1975	162
1978	158
1980	154
1981	143
1982	169
1983	130
1984	148
1985	164
1986	166
1987	180
1988	162
1989	138
1990	161
1991	162
1992	153
1993	163
1994	161
1995	155
1996	155
1997	151
1998	172
1999	168
2000	167
2002	163
2003	172
2004	151
2005	156
2006	185
2007	190
2008	168
2009	171
2010	171
2011	169
2012	162
2013	154
2014	174
2015	174
2016	149
2017	180
2018	173
2019	165
2020	145
2021	178
2022	163
2023	160
2024	176
2025	190

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1914	18.4 °C
1915	16.4 °C
1916	17.5 °C
1917	16.1 °C
1918	17.3 °C
1919	18.4 °C
1920	16.8 °C
1921	19.5 °C
1922	18.2 °C
1923	17.9 °C
1924	15.8 °C
1925	18.2 °C
1926	17.2 °C
1927	16.4 °C
1928	16.0 °C
1930	18.4 °C
1931	19.2 °C
1932	18.0 °C
1933	18.7 °C
1935	17.3 °C
1936	19.4 °C
1937	18.6 °C
1938	18.5 °C
1939	19.1 °C
1940	17.6 °C
1941	19.6 °C
1942	17.9 °C
1943	17.6 °C
1944	18.2 °C
1945	16.8 °C
1947	17.9 °C
1949	18.8 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	18.4 °C
1953	17.7 °C
1954	18.0 °C
1955	19.9 °C
1956	17.9 °C
1957	17.7 °C
1958	17.4 °C
1959	18.9 °C
1960	18.2 °C
1961	17.2 °C
1962	17.6 °C
1963	18.7 °C
1964	19.0 °C
1965	17.5 °C
1966	17.1 °C
1967	16.9 °C
1968	18.1 °C
1969	18.0 °C
1970	18.7 °C
1971	18.3 °C
1973	18.2 °C
1974	17.8 °C
1975	18.1 °C
1977	19.2 °C
1978	18.3 °C
1980	18.4 °C
1981	17.5 °C
1982	16.7 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	17.5 °C
1985	18.2 °C
1986	18.6 °C
1987	19.8 °C
1988	20.1 °C
1989	18.1 °C
1990	18.2 °C
1991	19.3 °C
1992	16.6 °C
1993	16.8 °C
1994	18.1 °C
1996	16.9 °C
1997	17.4 °C
1998	19.3 °C
1999	18.4 °C
2000	18.4 °C
2002	18.6 °C
2003	17.9 °C
2004	17.9 °C
2005	19.1 °C
2006	18.6 °C
2007	18.0 °C
2008	17.3 °C
2009	16.9 °C
2010	18.9 °C
2011	17.6 °C
2012	19.0 °C
2013	17.3 °C
2014	17.0 °C
2015	17.8 °C
2016	18.1 °C
2017	17.6 °C
2018	17.5 °C
2019	17.3 °C
2020	17.4 °C
2021	18.3 °C
2022	17.2 °C
2023	18.3 °C
2024	18.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1914, Parkersburg's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Aplington Dike Allison Ackley Shell Rock Grundy Center