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