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