Illinois Microclimate Maps

Click a box to open that map. Each one gives you the 30-year planning low at your address, your MFTC zone, the spring frost layer and the fruit trees that fit.

• 1Chicago's western suburbs and the Fox Valley
  Aurora, Naperville, Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Crystal Lake

  On January 31, 2019, the Aurora airport in Sugar Grove read −32°F while O'Hare read −23°F. Here's where the cold settles across Chicago's western suburbs and the Fox Valley, and what it means for fruit trees.

• 2Rockford and the Rock River
  Rockford, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Roscoe, Rockton, Cherry Valley, Byron

  On January 31, 2019, the Rockford airport hit −31°F, the city's all-time record low, while satellites showed town heat as a warm spot. Here's where cold settles along the Rock River, and what fruit comes through it.

• 3Davenport, Moline and the Quad Cities
  Davenport, Moline, Bettendorf, Rock Island, East Moline, Le Claire, Milan

  NOAA's Lock and Dam 15 station at Rock Island gets a median 198 frost-free days. The Moline airport, 5 miles away at nearly the same height, gets 170 and runs a median 4°F colder on the coldest night. Here's where Quad Cities cold settles.

• 4Dubuque, Galena and the Mississippi bluffs
  Dubuque, Galena, East Dubuque, Bellevue, Asbury, Peosta, Dickeyville

  In the January 2009 cold snap, NOAA's Lock and Dam 11 station on the river at Dubuque read −37°F while the airport station, 420 feet higher on the upland, read −30°F. Here's where the cold settles around Dubuque, Galena and Bellevue.