Toledo, OH Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

In a typical year the final freeze of spring reaches Toledo around April 20, and the first freeze of autumn returns around October 27. NOAA's normals call the frost-free stretch between them 188 days long.

Even odds are a coin toss, so plan around the safer edges: one spring in ten still has a freeze on or after May 7, and one fall in ten has its first freeze by October 14. Toledo's season is 41 days shorter than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, so it ranks 78th for season length.

These dates come from the NOAA weather station Toledo Metcalf Field (ID USW00004848), 8.9 miles south-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Toledo, at about 620 feet above sea level.

Toledo's last spring frost, by chance

One year in ten has a freeze on or after May 7. In nine years out of ten there is still a freeze on or after April 5, and half of years see one on or after April 20.

Spring dates in Toledo spread over 32 days from the 90% date to the 10% date, close to the middle of the cities covered here.

When is the first frost in Toledo?

NOAA's early fall date for Toledo is October 14, its even-odds date is October 27 and its late date is November 9; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

The early and late fall dates are only 26 days apart, a narrow band next to most cities here, so the first freeze keeps close to its schedule in Toledo.

How long is the frost-free season in Toledo?

The season is somewhat shorter than the middle of these pages, so a seed packet's days to maturity deserve a second look. A short year costs just 21 days against a typical one (167 days against 188 days), so a season-length plan for Toledo holds up in most years.

The season lengths come from NOAA's simulated years, not from subtracting one typical date from the other, so the two will not match to the day. At Toledo Metcalf Field a night at or below 32°F turns up in 100% of years, which means these dates apply every winter.

28°F dates in Toledo

NOAA's even-odds hard freeze dates for Toledo are November 7 in fall and April 8 in spring, 11 days and 12 days from the matching 32°F dates. The late 28°F spring date, April 25, is the one that still catches blooms and young transplants one year in ten, and the early fall date, October 26, is when a hard freeze has arrived in one fall out of ten.

What this means for planting in Toledo

The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet times each crop from the last frost. For Toledo's typical date, April 20, that means cabbage on March 23, lettuce from March 23 to March 30, seed potatoes from April 6 to April 13, and, once the frost is behind you, peppers on May 4 and beans on or after April 20. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

From the late date, May 7, every tender crop moves back 17 days; that buys protection against a spring only one year in ten brings.

Toledo's first frost leaves room for only 29 of the 34 fall crops, counting back NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days; for the other 5 the last planting day falls before July. Of the crops that fit, Chinese cabbage is the slowest: 103 days from planting to the early frost, which makes July 3 its last day.

Worked example: a tomato plan for Toledo

A gardener in Toledo who follows University of New Hampshire Extension sets tomato transplants out one to two weeks after the last frost: April 27 to May 4 from the typical date of April 20, or May 14 to May 21 from the late date of May 7, 17 days later.

To have transplants ready on the first day of the late window, sow seeds six to eight weeks earlier, between March 19 and April 2.

That leaves 146 days against 75 to 85 days for the plants to reach harvest, so even the late schedule fits in an early-frost year with 61 days to spare.

The weather station behind these dates

The station is 8.9 miles south-east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Toledo, several miles out, so look at the nearest-station list in the frost dates tool before you rely on it.

At about 620 feet, it ranks above 45 and below 54 of the 100 stations used for these pages. Its completeness flag is R, which NOAA uses for a representative record.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Toledo, we cannot say how far your yard is above or below this station. When yours is clearly higher or lower, open the nearby stations in the frost dates tool and favor the colder one.

Nearby cities and their frost dates

Three cities on these pages lie within a hundred miles of Toledo, the nearest Detroit, MI at 55 miles, which makes the comparison below a close one.

• Detroit, MI lies 55 miles north-east of Toledo. Typical last frost April 27, first frost October 25, 181 days between; the last frost is 7 days later than in Toledo, and frost-free days differ from Toledo's by less than a week.
• Fort Wayne, IN (90 miles, south-west): the last frost is 4 days later than in Toledo, and it has 10 days less without frost. Its typical dates are April 24 and October 21, with 178 days frost-free.
• Cleveland, OH (99 miles, east): the last frost is 12 days earlier than in Toledo, and the frost-free season is 29 days longer than Toledo's. Its typical dates are April 8 and November 12, with 217 days frost-free.

Next steps for Toledo gardeners

To go beyond the crops above, use the spring planting planner and fall planting planner, both set to this station. The frost dates tool shows the full odds for Toledo, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

Looking for another city? The city frost dates index lists every page, grouped by state.

Where these numbers come from

The frost and freeze dates are NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11), copied from the station's own record without adjustment; NOAA's documentation defines each probability. The Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Toledo on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 265,638 people here, decide which cities get a page.

Planting dates here are those rules from University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension, applied to this station's frost dates and nothing else. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

NOAA's dates say how often frost has come, not when it will. Check the forecast before planting and keep a cover on hand.