When to plant in Coal City, IL

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

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 23

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 18

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Morris 1nw · 15.4 km away · station 160 m, town 172 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 20 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 6
Peas	—	Mar 27 – Apr 24	May 21
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Apr 4 – May 16	Jun 3
Beet	—	Apr 4 – May 16	May 24
Potato	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 13
Kale	Feb 20 – Mar 6	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 16
Broccoli	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 26
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	Jun 25
Garlic	—	Oct 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 27 – Apr 24	May 4
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Coal City

Coal 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
1912	Apr 19
1913	May 11
1914	May 1
1915	Apr 17
1916	May 2
1917	May 10
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 10
1924	May 1
1925	May 26
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 13
1930	Apr 26
1931	May 4
1932	May 23
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 26
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 13
1939	May 3
1940	May 11
1941	May 10
1942	Apr 22
1943	May 1
1944	May 5
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 30
1949	May 11
1950	Apr 28
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 13
1961	May 27
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 15
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	May 6
1969	Apr 30
1970	May 6
1996	May 1
1997	Apr 22
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 12
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 23
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 16
2008	May 9
2009	Apr 14
2010	Apr 28
2011	Apr 21
2012	Apr 27
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 16
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 1
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 16
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1912	179
1913	133
1914	176
1915	173
1916	136
1917	143
1918	152
1920	167
1921	144
1922	171
1923	147
1924	173
1925	136
1926	144
1928	135
1930	173
1931	183
1932	135
1933	164
1934	154
1935	146
1936	161
1937	153
1938	163
1939	150
1940	137
1941	170
1942	156
1943	147
1944	159
1945	146
1946	156
1947	181
1948	156
1949	140
1950	159
1951	158
1952	169
1953	168
1954	149
1955	193
1956	148
1957	158
1958	154
1959	172
1960	159
1961	127
1962	149
1963	165
1964	173
1965	184
1966	144
1967	161
1968	150
1969	166
1970	150
1996	154
1997	175
1999	181
2000	177
2002	145
2003	159
2004	173
2005	171
2006	197
2007	198
2008	171
2009	178
2010	176
2011	189
2012	161
2013	184
2014	185
2015	175
2016	212
2017	210
2018	169
2019	180
2020	148
2021	172
2022	171
2023	186
2024	174
2025	190

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1912	18.6 °C
1913	19.1 °C
1914	19.6 °C
1915	18.0 °C
1916	19.0 °C
1917	16.9 °C
1919	19.2 °C
1920	18.1 °C
1921	20.9 °C
1922	19.8 °C
1923	18.3 °C
1924	16.9 °C
1925	19.7 °C
1926	17.5 °C
1927	17.8 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	18.9 °C
1930	20.1 °C
1931	20.1 °C
1932	18.4 °C
1933	19.5 °C
1934	20.0 °C
1935	17.3 °C
1936	19.9 °C
1937	18.7 °C
1938	18.8 °C
1939	19.2 °C
1940	18.3 °C
1941	19.7 °C
1942	18.6 °C
1943	18.3 °C
1944	19.3 °C
1945	17.6 °C
1946	18.7 °C
1947	18.6 °C
1948	19.1 °C
1949	19.0 °C
1950	17.5 °C
1951	17.8 °C
1952	19.1 °C
1953	19.0 °C
1954	19.6 °C
1955	20.7 °C
1956	19.3 °C
1957	19.0 °C
1958	18.6 °C
1959	20.4 °C
1960	18.6 °C
1961	17.6 °C
1962	18.4 °C
1963	18.3 °C
1964	18.9 °C
1965	18.4 °C
1966	17.4 °C
1967	17.2 °C
1968	18.3 °C
1969	18.3 °C
1970	18.9 °C
1996	15.6 °C
1997	17.3 °C
1999	19.3 °C
2000	18.6 °C
2002	19.1 °C
2003	18.2 °C
2004	18.6 °C
2005	20.1 °C
2006	19.2 °C
2007	19.8 °C
2008	18.8 °C
2009	18.2 °C
2010	20.8 °C
2011	19.4 °C
2012	20.4 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.8 °C
2015	19.4 °C
2016	20.0 °C
2017	19.4 °C
2018	19.8 °C
2019	19.4 °C
2020	19.1 °C
2021	19.8 °C
2022	19.4 °C
2023	19.6 °C
2024	20.8 °C
2025	20.0 °C
2026	20.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1912, Coal City's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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