Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for Harrison, NE
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 June 24. 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 May 25, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by June 6 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° | Apr 24 | Apr 18 | Apr 13 | Apr 10 | Apr 6 | Apr 2 | Mar 29 | Mar 25 | Mar 19 |
Last 20° | May 4 | Apr 28 | Apr 24 | Apr 21 | Apr 18 | Apr 15 | Apr 11 | Apr 7 | Apr 2 |
Last 24° | May 9 | May 5 | May 2 | Apr 29 | Apr 27 | Apr 24 | Apr 22 | Apr 19 | Apr 14 |
Last 28° | May 28 | May 22 | May 18 | May 15 | May 12 | May 9 | May 5 | May 1 | Apr 26 |
Last 32° | Jun 16 | Jun 8 | Jun 3 | May 30 | May 25 | May 21 | May 17 | May 11 | May 4 |
Last 36° | Jun 24 | Jun 18 | Jun 13 | Jun 10 | Jun 6 | Jun 2 | May 30 | May 25 | May 19 |
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 September 12.
- There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around September 19
- You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by September 27
- 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° | Oct 4 | Oct 11 | Oct 15 | Oct 19 | Oct 23 | Oct 27 | Oct 31 | Nov 5 | Nov 12 |
First 20° | Sep 29 | Oct 5 | Oct 9 | Oct 13 | Oct 16 | Oct 20 | Oct 23 | Oct 27 | Nov 2 |
First 24° | Sep 21 | Sep 26 | Sep 30 | Oct 4 | Oct 7 | Oct 10 | Oct 14 | Oct 18 | Oct 23 |
First 28° | Sep 13 | Sep 18 | Sep 22 | Sep 25 | Sep 28 | Oct 1 | Oct 4 | Oct 8 | Oct 13 |
First 32° | Sep 9 | Sep 12 | Sep 15 | Sep 17 | Sep 19 | Sep 22 | Sep 24 | Sep 27 | Sep 30 |
First 36° | Sep 4 | Sep 8 | Sep 10 | Sep 12 | Sep 14 | Sep 16 | Sep 18 | Sep 20 | Sep 24 |
Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.