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