Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Gravette, AR
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 11. 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 17, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by April 27 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 17 | Mar 8 | Mar 3 | Feb 26 | Feb 21 | Feb 16 | Feb 11 | Feb 6 | Jan 29 |
Last 20° | Mar 27 | Mar 20 | Mar 15 | Mar 10 | Mar 6 | Mar 2 | Feb 26 | Feb 21 | Feb 14 |
Last 24° | Apr 4 | Mar 30 | Mar 26 | Mar 22 | Mar 19 | Mar 16 | Mar 13 | Mar 9 | Mar 3 |
Last 28° | Apr 16 | Apr 11 | Apr 8 | Apr 5 | Apr 2 | Mar 30 | Mar 28 | Mar 24 | Mar 19 |
Last 32° | May 1 | Apr 25 | Apr 21 | Apr 17 | Apr 14 | Apr 11 | Apr 8 | Apr 4 | Mar 29 |
Last 36° | May 11 | May 6 | May 3 | Apr 29 | Apr 27 | Apr 24 | Apr 21 | Apr 17 | Apr 12 |
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 3.
- There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around October 15
- You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by October 28
- 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 13 | Nov 20 | Nov 25 | Nov 29 | Dec 3 | Dec 7 | Dec 12 | Dec 17 | Dec 24 |
First 20° | Nov 2 | Nov 9 | Nov 14 | Nov 19 | Nov 23 | Nov 28 | Dec 2 | Dec 8 | Dec 15 |
First 24° | Oct 27 | Nov 2 | Nov 7 | Nov 11 | Nov 14 | Nov 18 | Nov 22 | Nov 26 | Dec 3 |
First 28° | Oct 10 | Oct 16 | Oct 21 | Oct 25 | Oct 29 | Nov 2 | Nov 7 | Nov 12 | Nov 18 |
First 32° | Sep 26 | Oct 3 | Oct 8 | Oct 12 | Oct 15 | Oct 19 | Oct 23 | Oct 28 | Nov 3 |
First 36° | Sep 21 | Sep 26 | Sep 30 | Oct 3 | Oct 6 | Oct 9 | Oct 12 | Oct 15 | Oct 20 |
Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.