Frost Dates: First and last frost dates for hennepin wtr trmt plt, il

How to read these charts for the fall
As your growing season comes to an end, the nightly temperatures for hennepin wtr trmt plt, il start to go down, and therefore every day that goes by increases the chance that you'll get frost. Your risk of frost really begins around September 28, and by October 24 you're almost certain to have received at least one frost event.

The charts on this page show the probabilities of receiving a certain temperature on a certain day. Some examples that might help:

  1. You have a small 20% chance of getting 32° by October 3.
  2. There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around October 14
  3. You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by October 24
  4. Said another way, you have a 1 in 5 chance at making it to that day without a 32° night.
In the Fall
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
First 16° Nov 8 Nov 14 Nov 19 Nov 23 Nov 26 Nov 30 Dec 4 Dec 8 Dec 15
First 20° Nov 2 Nov 7 Nov 10 Nov 14 Nov 17 Nov 20 Nov 23 Nov 27 Dec 2
First 24° Oct 25 Oct 30 Nov 3 Nov 6 Nov 9 Nov 11 Nov 15 Nov 18 Nov 23
First 28° Oct 11 Oct 16 Oct 20 Oct 24 Oct 27 Oct 30 Nov 3 Nov 7 Nov 12
First 32° Sep 28 Oct 3 Oct 7 Oct 10 Oct 14 Oct 17 Oct 20 Oct 24 Oct 29
First 36° Sep 23 Sep 27 Sep 29 Oct 2 Oct 4 Oct 6 Oct 8 Oct 11 Oct 15

How to read these charts for the spring
As the growing season approaches, the days get longer, the weather begins to warm up, and the nights start being less cold. You're still getting frost, but the chance of nightly frosts gets less and less with each passing day. Eventually, the frost stops, and this is when your tender plants are fully safe. So, how do you plan for this? The probabilities on this page help you assess your risk of frost on any given day.

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 21. 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 23, so we don't dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by May 4 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.

In the Spring
Temperature 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Last 16° Mar 26 Mar 20 Mar 15 Mar 11 Mar 8 Mar 4 Feb 28 Feb 23 Feb 17
Last 20° Apr 4 Mar 30 Mar 25 Mar 22 Mar 19 Mar 15 Mar 12 Mar 7 Mar 2
Last 24° Apr 13 Apr 8 Apr 5 Apr 3 Mar 31 Mar 29 Mar 26 Mar 23 Mar 18
Last 28° Apr 16 Apr 12 Apr 10 Apr 8 Apr 6 Apr 4 Apr 2 Mar 30 Mar 27
Last 32° May 3 Apr 28 Apr 25 Apr 22 Apr 19 Apr 16 Apr 13 Apr 10 Apr 5
Last 36° May 21 May 15 May 11 May 7 May 4 Apr 30 Apr 27 Apr 23 Apr 17

Data is provided by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.