When to plant in Jonesboro, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 7

Frost-free days

189

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Anna 4 N · 8.0 km away · station 181 m, town 172 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Jonesboro plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 23
Sweet pepper	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 28
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 3 – Mar 31	Apr 27
Bush beans	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 11
Carrot	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 23
Beet	—	Mar 17 – Apr 28	May 6
Potato	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 2
Kale	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 29
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
Cucumber	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 18
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 13
Winter squash	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jul 18
Sweet corn	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 21
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 3 – Mar 31	Apr 10
Basil	Mar 18 – Apr 1	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 25

Plan all 65 crops for Jonesboro

Jonesboro'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
1896	Apr 3
1897	Mar 27
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 9
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 8
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 17
1906	Apr 1
1907	Apr 20
1908	Apr 3
1909	Apr 10
1910	Apr 25
1911	Apr 9
1913	Mar 28
1915	Apr 3
1916	Apr 9
1917	Apr 9
1918	Apr 10
1919	Apr 1
1920	Apr 13
1921	Apr 18
1922	Mar 22
1923	Apr 9
1924	Apr 2
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 16
1929	Mar 17
1930	Mar 30
1931	Mar 20
1932	Mar 23
1933	Mar 26
1934	Mar 29
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 22
1937	Mar 29
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 12
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 1
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 5
1945	Apr 5
1946	Mar 11
1947	Apr 17
1948	Mar 28
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 15
1951	Apr 17
1952	Apr 6
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 4
1955	Mar 30
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 13
1958	Mar 22
1959	Mar 28
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 16
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 24
1964	Apr 9
1965	Mar 31
1966	May 10
1967	Mar 19
1968	Apr 6
1969	Mar 31
1970	Mar 30
1971	Apr 14
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 12
1976	Mar 22
1977	Mar 23
1978	Apr 22
1979	Apr 6
1980	Apr 14
1981	Mar 23
1982	Apr 10
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 4
1988	Mar 30
1989	Apr 12
1990	Apr 12
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 5
1993	Apr 17
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 16
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 11
1999	Mar 30
2000	Apr 22
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 29
2004	Apr 14
2005	Apr 24
2006	Apr 10
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 9
2010	Mar 30
2011	Apr 5
2023	Mar 30
2024	Apr 7
2025	Apr 9
2026	Mar 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1896	197
1897	223
1898	198
1899	173
1901	196
1902	203
1903	175
1904	184
1905	177
1906	191
1907	175
1908	207
1909	184
1910	185
1911	196
1913	206
1915	188
1916	194
1917	185
1918	204
1919	224
1920	198
1921	172
1922	238
1923	196
1924	228
1926	187
1927	196
1928	202
1929	232
1931	249
1932	222
1933	226
1934	212
1935	172
1936	187
1937	198
1938	196
1939	201
1940	207
1941	223
1942	207
1943	184
1944	213
1945	212
1946	245
1947	204
1948	203
1949	190
1950	203
1951	197
1952	183
1953	198
1954	178
1955	208
1956	197
1957	196
1958	229
1959	213
1960	192
1961	193
1962	190
1963	191
1964	183
1965	211
1966	170
1967	206
1968	201
1969	205
1970	218
1971	205
1972	192
1973	206
1974	176
1975	214
1976	208
1977	207
1978	187
1979	190
1980	194
1981	214
1982	194
1983	199
1984	214
1985	212
1986	200
1987	186
1988	196
1989	190
1990	199
1991	198
1992	196
1993	193
1994	202
1995	170
1996	185
1997	158
1998	194
1999	188
2000	168
2001	181
2002	189
2003	180
2004	204
2005	184
2009	191
2010	212
2023	215
2024	232
2025	207

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	22.2 °C
1897	21.3 °C
1898	21.5 °C
1899	22.0 °C
1901	22.2 °C
1902	22.0 °C
1903	21.4 °C
1904	20.5 °C
1905	22.1 °C
1906	22.0 °C
1907	20.2 °C
1908	22.1 °C
1909	22.1 °C
1910	21.4 °C
1911	22.9 °C
1913	22.8 °C
1914	23.0 °C
1916	22.2 °C
1917	20.8 °C
1918	21.9 °C
1919	22.5 °C
1920	21.2 °C
1921	23.1 °C
1922	22.8 °C
1923	21.7 °C
1924	20.8 °C
1926	21.3 °C
1927	20.5 °C
1928	20.3 °C
1929	20.9 °C
1931	22.2 °C
1932	21.8 °C
1933	22.9 °C
1934	22.9 °C
1935	20.9 °C
1936	23.4 °C
1937	21.8 °C
1938	21.9 °C
1939	22.0 °C
1940	20.5 °C
1941	22.6 °C
1942	20.7 °C
1943	21.6 °C
1944	21.8 °C
1945	20.5 °C
1946	20.6 °C
1947	21.1 °C
1948	21.3 °C
1949	20.9 °C
1950	19.9 °C
1951	20.6 °C
1952	22.0 °C
1953	22.2 °C
1954	22.5 °C
1955	22.3 °C
1956	21.3 °C
1957	21.6 °C
1958	21.2 °C
1959	22.2 °C
1960	21.8 °C
1961	20.3 °C
1962	21.9 °C
1963	21.6 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	21.9 °C
1966	20.7 °C
1967	20.4 °C
1968	21.4 °C
1969	21.7 °C
1970	22.0 °C
1971	21.2 °C
1972	21.0 °C
1973	20.9 °C
1974	20.4 °C
1975	20.9 °C
1976	20.4 °C
1977	22.6 °C
1978	21.9 °C
1979	20.6 °C
1980	22.9 °C
1981	21.4 °C
1982	20.8 °C
1983	21.6 °C
1984	20.8 °C
1985	21.4 °C
1986	22.5 °C
1987	22.6 °C
1988	22.1 °C
1989	20.9 °C
1990	20.9 °C
1991	22.7 °C
1992	20.7 °C
1993	21.2 °C
1994	20.9 °C
1995	21.2 °C
1996	20.2 °C
1997	19.6 °C
1999	21.6 °C
2000	21.3 °C
2001	21.6 °C
2002	21.8 °C
2003	20.3 °C
2004	20.8 °C
2005	21.7 °C
2006	20.5 °C
2010	23.7 °C
2011	23.4 °C
2023	20.7 °C
2024	21.6 °C
2025	21.3 °C
2026	22.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, Jonesboro'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 Anna 4 N (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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