Last and first frost dates in Traverse City

When is the last frost in Traverse City?

The last frost in Traverse City usually comes around 2 May: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 11 April, while corn waits until 15 May. The first autumn frost follows around 9 November, about 191 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Traverse City

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo). The soil reaches 10 °C 2 days after the last spring frost and 15 °C 25 days after it.

Frost dates near Traverse City

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Milwaukee (27 April) and latest in Green Bay (29 April).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Traverse City

Within 15 km of Traverse City OpenStreetMap lists 13 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 market and 6 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is I'm Planty & Fancy, 1 km away.

• I'm Planty & Fancy — garden centre
  South Union Street 124, Traverse City · 1 km
• Sara Hardy Downtown Farmer's Market — market
  Wed 08:00–12:00; Sun 07:30–12:00 · 1 km · dda.downtowntc.com
• Cherry U-Pick at Third Coast Fruit Co. — farm shop · sells: cherry, flowers
  Wilson Road 555, 49686 Traverse City · Jun 21–Aug 12: 09:00–18:30 · 7 km · cherryupick.com
• Skegemog Gardens — garden centre
  Railroad Place 642, Traverse City · 2 km
• Gallagher's Farm Market and Bakery — farm shop
  East Traverse Highway 7237, 49684 Traverse City · 7 km
• Hall's Greenhouse — garden centre
  East Carter Road 10461, 49684 Traverse City · 2 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Traverse City
• Selling your own harvest in the United States

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Traverse City by month

Average weather in Traverse City over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: June–September (22–25.9 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in December–March (-7.1–-3.1 °C). About 929 mm of rain falls in a year, on 148 days; October is the wettest month (115 mm) and February the driest (53 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).