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