When to plant in Sigourney, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 14

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

174

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Sigourney · 2.0 km away · station 223 m, town 242 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Sigourney plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 10 – Mar 24	May 5 – May 19	Jun 29
Sweet pepper	Feb 24 – Mar 10	May 5 – May 19	Jul 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 21 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 7
Peas	—	Mar 28 – Apr 25	May 22
Bush beans	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 17
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Apr 7 – May 19	May 27
Potato	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 16
Kale	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 17
Broccoli	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 18	May 27
Cucumber	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 24
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 19
Winter squash	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jul 24
Sweet corn	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 28 – Apr 18	Jun 26
Garlic	—	Sep 30 – Oct 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 28 – Apr 25	May 5
Basil	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jul 1

Plan all 65 crops for Sigourney

Sigourney'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
1897	Apr 20
1899	Apr 20
1900	Apr 13
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 23
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 9
1907	May 15
1908	May 2
1909	May 3
1910	Apr 25
1911	May 2
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 27
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 12
1916	May 18
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 17
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 28
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 5
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 21
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 26
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1937	Apr 25
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 18
1940	May 1
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 20
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 6
1945	May 10
1946	May 11
1947	Apr 21
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 18
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 6
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 21
1960	Apr 10
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 24
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 19
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 2
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 13
1975	Apr 12
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 28
1980	Apr 15
1981	Apr 15
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 19
1984	Apr 6
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 22
1993	Apr 18
1994	Apr 29
1995	Apr 26
1996	Apr 28
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 5
1999	Mar 28
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 12
2004	May 4
2005	May 4
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 12
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 13
2013	May 3
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 22
2017	Apr 8
2020	May 12
2021	May 13
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	171
1899	161
1900	177
1901	165
1902	142
1904	184
1905	172
1906	149
1907	132
1908	148
1909	161
1910	179
1911	171
1912	159
1913	146
1914	186
1915	179
1918	142
1919	167
1920	166
1921	168
1922	165
1923	127
1924	160
1925	137
1926	150
1927	172
1928	149
1929	170
1930	174
1931	164
1932	161
1933	169
1934	183
1935	152
1937	153
1938	184
1939	164
1940	147
1941	212
1942	156
1943	178
1944	181
1945	151
1946	177
1947	200
1948	185
1949	163
1950	155
1951	157
1954	173
1955	194
1956	190
1957	179
1958	154
1959	173
1962	189
1963	186
1964	171
1965	187
1966	167
1967	157
1968	161
1969	167
1970	184
1971	210
1972	175
1973	199
1975	172
1976	155
1977	165
1978	159
1979	159
1980	179
1981	169
1982	182
1983	188
1984	172
1985	209
1986	195
1987	180
1988	158
1989	149
1990	183
1991	178
1992	177
1993	174
1994	178
1995	148
1996	173
1997	185
1998	199
1999	203
2000	175
2001	169
2002	188
2003	172
2004	150
2005	171
2006	158
2007	196
2008	181
2009	180
2010	172
2011	169
2012	163
2013	171
2014	194
2015	177
2020	142
2021	161
2022	153
2023	159
2024	177
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	19.7 °C
1899	19.3 °C
1900	20.6 °C
1901	21.1 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	18.7 °C
1904	18.0 °C
1905	19.2 °C
1906	19.9 °C
1907	17.3 °C
1908	19.3 °C
1909	18.6 °C
1910	18.7 °C
1911	20.5 °C
1912	19.0 °C
1913	19.9 °C
1914	19.6 °C
1915	18.4 °C
1916	19.3 °C
1918	18.5 °C
1919	19.4 °C
1920	17.8 °C
1921	20.1 °C
1922	19.5 °C
1923	18.7 °C
1924	16.7 °C
1925	19.6 °C
1926	18.3 °C
1927	18.4 °C
1928	17.8 °C
1929	18.4 °C
1930	19.8 °C
1931	19.7 °C
1932	19.2 °C
1933	19.9 °C
1934	21.2 °C
1935	18.6 °C
1937	19.8 °C
1938	19.9 °C
1939	19.9 °C
1940	19.3 °C
1941	20.9 °C
1942	19.8 °C
1943	19.1 °C
1944	19.4 °C
1945	17.9 °C
1946	18.7 °C
1947	19.4 °C
1948	20.0 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	18.0 °C
1951	17.7 °C
1954	19.9 °C
1955	21.1 °C
1956	20.3 °C
1957	19.1 °C
1958	18.7 °C
1959	19.5 °C
1960	19.0 °C
1961	18.2 °C
1962	19.0 °C
1963	19.4 °C
1964	19.6 °C
1965	18.8 °C
1966	18.2 °C
1967	18.0 °C
1968	19.5 °C
1969	19.4 °C
1970	20.1 °C
1971	20.0 °C
1972	19.5 °C
1973	19.0 °C
1975	19.4 °C
1976	19.2 °C
1977	21.1 °C
1978	19.6 °C
1979	18.8 °C
1980	20.2 °C
1981	19.9 °C
1982	18.9 °C
1983	20.7 °C
1984	19.0 °C
1985	19.6 °C
1986	20.2 °C
1987	20.8 °C
1988	21.6 °C
1989	18.4 °C
1990	17.9 °C
1991	19.5 °C
1992	16.7 °C
1993	17.2 °C
1994	17.7 °C
1995	17.9 °C
1996	17.1 °C
1997	17.1 °C
1998	19.1 °C
1999	18.5 °C
2000	18.4 °C
2001	18.6 °C
2002	18.5 °C
2003	18.0 °C
2004	17.8 °C
2005	19.4 °C
2006	19.0 °C
2007	19.0 °C
2008	17.8 °C
2009	17.3 °C
2010	19.5 °C
2011	18.5 °C
2012	19.5 °C
2013	18.0 °C
2014	17.5 °C
2015	18.6 °C
2019	18.6 °C
2020	18.3 °C
2021	19.1 °C
2022	18.8 °C
2023	18.9 °C
2024	19.3 °C
2025	19.6 °C
2026	20.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Sigourney's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

North English Wellman Maharishi Vedic City Oskaloosa Montezuma Ottumwa