When to plant in Rapid City, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 27

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 16

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Traverse Cy Cherry Capital Ap · 24.9 km away · station 185 m, town 192 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 21
Sweet pepper	Mar 18 – Apr 1	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 26
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 14 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 28
Peas	—	Apr 15 – May 13	Jun 9
Bush beans	—	May 20 – Jun 10	Jul 9
Carrot	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 24
Beet	—	Apr 24 – Jun 5	Jun 13
Potato	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jul 4
Kale	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 4
Broccoli	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 17
Cucumber	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 16
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 11
Winter squash	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Aug 15
Sweet corn	—	May 20 – Jun 10	Jul 19
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jul 17
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 15 – May 13	May 23
Basil	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 23

Plan all 65 crops for Rapid City

Rapid 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
1897	May 25
1898	May 6
1899	May 15
1901	May 27
1902	May 16
1903	May 6
1904	May 11
1905	May 9
1906	May 20
1907	May 28
1908	May 25
1909	May 11
1910	May 17
1911	May 13
1912	Apr 28
1913	May 11
1914	May 2
1915	May 27
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 1
1919	May 4
1920	Apr 29
1921	May 1
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 11
1924	May 20
1925	May 27
1926	May 23
1927	May 2
1928	May 13
1929	May 25
1930	May 29
1931	May 22
1932	May 2
1933	May 10
1934	May 25
1935	May 16
1936	May 20
1937	May 15
1938	May 13
1939	Jun 13
1940	May 11
1941	Jun 9
1942	May 25
1943	May 14
1944	May 10
1945	Jun 4
1946	May 8
1947	May 10
1948	May 19
1949	Jun 8
1950	May 16
1951	Jun 5
1952	May 17
1953	May 23
1954	May 26
1955	May 20
1956	Jun 2
1957	May 16
1958	Jun 6
1959	May 16
1960	May 13
1961	May 30
1962	Jun 3
1963	May 24
1964	Jun 11
1965	Jul 6
1966	Jun 10
1967	May 22
1968	May 11
1969	May 26
1970	May 7
1971	May 22
1972	May 10
1973	May 20
1974	May 10
1975	May 16
1976	May 19
1977	Jun 3
1978	May 7
1979	May 22
1980	May 16
1981	May 20
1982	Jun 4
1983	Jun 8
1984	May 16
1985	May 22
1986	May 4
1987	May 5
1988	May 25
1989	May 11
1990	May 11
1991	May 8
1992	May 27
1993	May 19
1994	May 27
1995	May 6
1996	May 30
1997	May 22
1998	Apr 28
1999	May 13
2000	May 20
2001	Apr 28
2002	May 25
2003	Jun 1
2004	May 4
2005	May 17
2006	May 6
2007	May 13
2008	May 28
2009	May 18
2010	May 10
2011	May 17
2012	May 10
2013	May 25
2014	May 17
2015	May 22
2016	May 23
2017	May 20
2018	May 11
2019	May 8
2020	May 13
2021	May 13
2022	May 7
2023	May 15
2024	Apr 26

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	172
1901	129
1902	153
1903	133
1904	133
1905	167
1906	142
1907	138
1908	139
1909	147
1910	163
1911	167
1912	153
1913	154
1914	177
1915	123
1916	151
1917	146
1918	158
1919	168
1920	182
1921	164
1922	171
1923	147
1924	137
1925	135
1926	137
1927	169
1928	165
1929	117
1930	141
1931	142
1932	163
1933	166
1934	140
1935	129
1936	144
1937	127
1938	146
1939	123
1940	157
1941	123
1942	119
1943	120
1944	145
1945	116
1946	158
1947	137
1948	136
1949	118
1950	130
1951	115
1952	140
1953	136
1954	133
1955	135
1956	120
1957	133
1958	120
1959	154
1960	140
1961	120
1962	131
1963	111
1964	92
1965	82
1966	105
1967	111
1968	167
1969	148
1970	156
1971	162
1972	151
1973	119
1974	135
1975	143
1976	153
1977	125
1978	158
1979	122
1980	132
1981	124
1982	85
1983	122
1984	136
1985	141
1986	157
1987	159
1988	134
1989	135
1990	129
1991	159
1992	130
1993	133
1994	128
1995	169
1996	126
1997	153
1998	158
1999	142
2000	127
2001	161
2002	137
2003	122
2004	153
2005	144
2006	152
2007	164
2008	141
2009	135
2010	146
2011	137
2012	158
2013	150
2014	154
2015	156
2016	155
2017	158
2018	159
2019	162
2020	155
2021	166
2022	172
2023	160
2024	166

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	15.8 °C
1898	15.2 °C
1899	16.0 °C
1901	15.9 °C
1903	14.5 °C
1904	13.4 °C
1905	13.9 °C
1906	16.3 °C
1907	13.5 °C
1909	15.1 °C
1910	15.5 °C
1911	16.5 °C
1912	15.1 °C
1913	15.4 °C
1914	16.0 °C
1916	15.4 °C
1917	13.5 °C
1918	14.7 °C
1919	16.3 °C
1920	14.3 °C
1921	17.8 °C
1922	16.4 °C
1923	14.7 °C
1924	13.7 °C
1925	16.1 °C
1926	14.1 °C
1927	14.9 °C
1928	14.6 °C
1929	14.9 °C
1930	16.9 °C
1931	16.9 °C
1932	15.8 °C
1933	16.6 °C
1934	15.8 °C
1935	14.8 °C
1936	15.5 °C
1937	16.3 °C
1938	16.4 °C
1939	15.9 °C
1940	15.2 °C
1941	16.1 °C
1942	15.3 °C
1943	14.9 °C
1944	15.9 °C
1945	14.1 °C
1946	14.9 °C
1947	14.7 °C
1948	15.5 °C
1949	16.0 °C
1950	13.5 °C
1951	14.4 °C
1952	15.6 °C
1953	15.5 °C
1954	14.8 °C
1955	17.4 °C
1956	14.1 °C
1957	15.1 °C
1958	14.3 °C
1959	16.6 °C
1960	15.2 °C
1961	14.4 °C
1962	15.3 °C
1963	14.6 °C
1964	15.4 °C
1965	13.3 °C
1966	14.7 °C
1967	13.9 °C
1968	15.7 °C
1969	15.5 °C
1970	16.4 °C
1971	15.6 °C
1972	14.5 °C
1973	15.8 °C
1974	15.3 °C
1975	15.9 °C
1976	15.0 °C
1977	15.9 °C
1978	15.0 °C
1979	13.7 °C
1980	15.2 °C
1981	15.4 °C
1982	14.8 °C
1983	14.7 °C
1984	14.8 °C
1985	15.3 °C
1986	15.5 °C
1987	17.1 °C
1988	16.7 °C
1989	15.0 °C
1990	15.2 °C
1991	17.4 °C
1992	14.0 °C
1993	15.2 °C
1994	15.8 °C
1995	16.1 °C
1996	15.0 °C
1997	15.0 °C
1998	16.8 °C
1999	16.2 °C
2000	15.1 °C
2001	15.7 °C
2002	15.9 °C
2003	14.7 °C
2004	15.2 °C
2005	17.0 °C
2006	16.3 °C
2007	16.2 °C
2008	15.7 °C
2009	14.6 °C
2010	16.9 °C
2011	16.3 °C
2012	17.1 °C
2013	15.8 °C
2014	15.3 °C
2015	16.5 °C
2016	17.1 °C
2017	16.5 °C
2018	16.9 °C
2019	15.8 °C
2020	16.2 °C
2021	17.2 °C
2022	16.8 °C
2023	17.0 °C
2024	17.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Rapid City'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 Traverse Cy Cherry Capital Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Elk Rapids Kalkaska Bellaire Mancelona Traverse City Greilickville