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