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