When to plant in Au Sable, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 26

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 13

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 3

1 year in 10 by Sep 21

Frost-free days

144

median, 1991–2020

Station used: E Tawas · 19.6 km away · station 179 m, town 180 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Au Sable plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 26 – Jun 9	Jul 20
Sweet pepper	Mar 17 – Mar 31	May 26 – Jun 9	Jul 25
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 1	May 27
Peas	—	Apr 17 – May 15	Jun 11
Bush beans	—	May 19 – Jun 9	Jul 8
Carrot	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 24
Beet	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 14
Potato	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jul 4
Kale	Mar 13 – Mar 27	Apr 24 – May 8	Jun 6
Broccoli	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 8	Jun 16
Cucumber	Apr 28 – May 5	May 26 – Jun 9	Jul 15
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 28 – May 5	May 26 – Jun 9	Jul 10
Winter squash	Apr 28 – May 5	May 26 – Jun 9	Aug 14
Sweet corn	—	May 19 – Jun 9	Jul 18
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 17 – May 8	Jul 16
Garlic	—	Sep 19 – Oct 17 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 17 – May 15	May 25
Basil	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 26 – Jun 9	Jul 22

Plan all 65 crops for Au Sable

Au Sable'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	May 26
1898	Apr 27
1900	May 12
1902	May 28
1903	May 20
1904	May 11
1907	May 28
1908	May 14
1909	May 3
1910	May 14
1911	May 13
1912	May 15
1913	Jun 8
1915	Jun 24
1916	May 21
1917	May 23
1918	May 23
1919	May 3
1920	May 30
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 24
1924	May 22
1925	May 27
1926	Jun 5
1927	May 28
1928	May 14
1929	Jun 9
1930	May 31
1931	Jun 9
1932	Jun 8
1933	May 15
1934	May 27
1935	May 26
1936	May 20
1937	May 10
1938	May 13
1939	May 18
1940	May 11
1941	Jun 10
1942	May 10
1943	May 14
1944	May 8
1945	Jun 4
1946	May 13
1947	Jun 4
1948	May 30
1949	Jun 8
1950	May 13
1951	May 13
1952	May 17
1953	May 15
1954	May 26
1955	May 20
1956	May 24
1957	Jun 8
1960	May 2
1961	May 30
1962	May 10
1963	May 24
1964	Jun 5
1965	Apr 29
1966	Jun 2
1967	May 23
1968	May 11
1969	May 26
1970	May 6
1971	May 14
1972	Jun 11
1973	May 19
1974	May 10
1975	May 13
1977	May 15
1979	May 22
1982	May 4
1983	May 27
1984	May 14
1985	May 29
1986	May 4
1987	May 13
1988	May 14
1989	May 8
1990	May 2
1991	May 10
1992	May 25
1993	Apr 26
1994	May 26
1995	Apr 25
1996	May 22
1997	May 17
1998	Jun 4
1999	May 9
2000	Apr 29
2001	May 13
2002	May 21
2003	May 4
2004	May 4
2005	May 17
2006	May 6
2007	May 21
2008	May 28
2009	May 31
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 21
2012	May 17
2013	May 13
2014	May 17
2015	May 23
2016	May 18
2017	May 9
2018	Apr 30
2019	May 8
2020	May 13
2021	May 30
2022	May 23
2023	May 26
2024	Apr 26
2025	May 9
2026	May 12

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	117
1898	170
1900	157
1902	132
1904	133
1909	161
1910	145
1911	147
1912	134
1913	97
1915	89
1917	110
1918	124
1919	145
1920	151
1921	148
1922	165
1923	111
1924	111
1925	132
1926	112
1927	132
1928	113
1929	97
1930	123
1931	121
1932	101
1933	139
1934	85
1935	124
1936	127
1937	132
1938	141
1939	135
1940	137
1941	110
1942	135
1943	120
1944	148
1945	120
1946	112
1947	110
1948	126
1949	128
1950	133
1951	138
1952	138
1953	144
1954	133
1955	114
1960	158
1961	121
1962	143
1963	141
1965	149
1966	115
1967	122
1968	165
1969	141
1970	145
1971	133
1972	119
1973	119
1974	134
1975	123
1982	116
1983	119
1984	135
1985	126
1986	166
1987	148
1988	144
1989	138
1990	138
1991	133
1992	120
1993	155
1994	135
1995	149
1996	132
1997	150
1998	138
1999	134
2000	150
2001	146
2002	139
2003	149
2004	148
2005	152
2006	145
2007	143
2008	127
2009	122
2010	147
2011	147
2012	142
2013	123
2014	144
2015	139
2016	144
2017	159
2018	168
2019	159
2020	128
2021	144
2022	128
2023	149
2024	172
2025	152

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	14.8 °C
1898	15.4 °C
1899	14.7 °C
1901	16.2 °C
1902	14.0 °C
1909	14.4 °C
1910	14.7 °C
1911	14.9 °C
1912	13.5 °C
1913	14.6 °C
1916	15.1 °C
1917	13.0 °C
1918	14.0 °C
1919	15.3 °C
1920	13.8 °C
1921	16.7 °C
1922	15.5 °C
1923	14.0 °C
1924	13.0 °C
1925	15.3 °C
1926	13.8 °C
1927	14.0 °C
1928	13.5 °C
1929	13.2 °C
1930	14.4 °C
1931	15.4 °C
1932	13.6 °C
1933	14.6 °C
1934	13.7 °C
1935	13.1 °C
1936	14.3 °C
1937	15.3 °C
1938	15.9 °C
1939	15.3 °C
1940	14.7 °C
1941	16.2 °C
1942	15.4 °C
1943	14.9 °C
1944	15.6 °C
1945	14.3 °C
1946	14.5 °C
1947	14.7 °C
1948	15.6 °C
1949	15.8 °C
1950	13.7 °C
1951	14.7 °C
1952	15.6 °C
1953	15.4 °C
1954	15.1 °C
1955	16.8 °C
1956	14.1 °C
1957	14.6 °C
1959	16.8 °C
1960	14.9 °C
1961	14.9 °C
1962	14.7 °C
1963	14.7 °C
1964	15.6 °C
1965	14.4 °C
1966	14.7 °C
1967	14.7 °C
1968	15.6 °C
1969	15.1 °C
1970	15.6 °C
1971	14.0 °C
1972	13.4 °C
1974	14.0 °C
1975	14.4 °C
1977	15.1 °C
1982	13.7 °C
1983	14.7 °C
1984	14.8 °C
1985	15.1 °C
1986	15.2 °C
1987	16.2 °C
1988	16.4 °C
1989	15.1 °C
1990	15.1 °C
1991	16.2 °C
1992	13.5 °C
1993	14.9 °C
1994	15.3 °C
1995	15.8 °C
1996	14.8 °C
1997	14.7 °C
1998	17.1 °C
1999	16.7 °C
2000	15.3 °C
2001	16.1 °C
2002	15.6 °C
2003	14.7 °C
2004	15.2 °C
2005	16.5 °C
2006	16.3 °C
2007	16.1 °C
2008	15.3 °C
2009	14.6 °C
2010	16.7 °C
2011	15.6 °C
2012	15.9 °C
2013	14.9 °C
2014	14.3 °C
2015	15.1 °C
2016	15.9 °C
2017	15.7 °C
2018	15.7 °C
2019	15.0 °C
2020	15.5 °C
2021	16.0 °C
2022	15.4 °C
2023	15.2 °C
2024	16.5 °C
2025	15.7 °C
2026	15.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Au Sable'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 E Tawas (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

East Tawas Tawas City Sand Lake Hubbard Lake Skidway Lake Pigeon