FrostDateCheck

Pender, NE 68047 Frost Dates

Frost dates for Pender, NE, ZIP 68047

Zone 5a

Around 05/05 is the usual last spring frost, about 250 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/01, about 148 frost-free days later.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pender in Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 5a around Pender has about 5 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.

How much risk comes with planting early here

05/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/24 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/18 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Pender compares

About 148 days separate Pender's last and first frost, putting it 35,750 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NE, it ranks 538 of 605.

Learn more

zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5a and Pender's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Pender's dates instead of trusting one.