Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Fort Supply, OK
What's a safe temperature for tender plants? When the nightly temperature falls, frost can form, even above 32°, because the air is colder high above the ground and the frost can form up there and then fall down onto your garden and do some damage, even if it's 36° on the ground. So many factors come into play, including wind, concrete, houses, trees and other structures, etc etc etc. Because of all this, you might want to consider 36° as "the danger zone".
In your average springtime, you have a 90% chance that there will be no 36° nights by May 13. In other words, you can pretty much count on being safe from frost by that day. But we want to get those tomatoes in the ground as soon as possible, right? We see that there's still an 80% chance of 36° on April 15, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by April 26 we are at the 50/50 point. At this point, we are close and we can start watching the weather forecast. If the upcoming week's forecast doesn't show below 40°, then it's probably okay to risk planting out your plants.
Temperature | 10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% | 60% | 70% | 80% | 90% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Last 16° | Mar 19 | Mar 12 | Mar 7 | Mar 3 | Feb 27 | Feb 23 | Feb 19 | Feb 14 | Feb 8 |
Last 20° | Apr 2 | Mar 26 | Mar 20 | Mar 16 | Mar 11 | Mar 7 | Mar 2 | Feb 25 | Feb 17 |
Last 24° | Apr 8 | Apr 3 | Mar 30 | Mar 27 | Mar 24 | Mar 21 | Mar 17 | Mar 13 | Mar 8 |
Last 28° | Apr 14 | Apr 9 | Apr 6 | Apr 3 | Apr 1 | Mar 29 | Mar 27 | Mar 23 | Mar 19 |
Last 32° | Apr 24 | Apr 20 | Apr 16 | Apr 14 | Apr 11 | Apr 9 | Apr 6 | Apr 3 | Mar 30 |
Last 36° | May 13 | May 7 | May 3 | Apr 29 | Apr 26 | Apr 22 | Apr 19 | Apr 15 | Apr 9 |
The charts on this page show the probabilities of receiving a certain temperature on a certain day. Some examples that might help:
- You have a small 20% chance of getting 32° by October 9.
- There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around October 19
- You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by October 29
- Said another way, you have a 1 in 5 chance at making it to that day without a 32° night.
Temperature | 10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% | 60% | 70% | 80% | 90% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First 16° | Nov 8 | Nov 15 | Nov 20 | Nov 24 | Nov 28 | Dec 2 | Dec 6 | Dec 11 | Dec 17 |
First 20° | Oct 27 | Nov 4 | Nov 9 | Nov 13 | Nov 17 | Nov 21 | Nov 26 | Dec 1 | Dec 8 |
First 24° | Oct 23 | Oct 29 | Nov 2 | Nov 6 | Nov 9 | Nov 13 | Nov 16 | Nov 21 | Nov 27 |
First 28° | Oct 19 | Oct 24 | Oct 27 | Oct 30 | Nov 2 | Nov 5 | Nov 8 | Nov 11 | Nov 16 |
First 32° | Oct 4 | Oct 9 | Oct 13 | Oct 16 | Oct 19 | Oct 22 | Oct 25 | Oct 29 | Nov 3 |
First 36° | Sep 25 | Sep 30 | Oct 3 | Oct 6 | Oct 9 | Oct 12 | Oct 15 | Oct 18 | Oct 23 |
Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.