Ralston, NE 68157 Frost Dates
Ralston, NE: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/17, roughly 232 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/19, roughly 183 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ralston in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 7 weeks until Ralston's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/17 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/03 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/01 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Ralston against the rest of the dataset
About 183 days separate Ralston's last and first frost, putting it 23,823 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NE, it ranks 21 of 605.
Learn more
Before leaning on 68157's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Ralston's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Ralston can differ from the 68157 normal.