Shelby, NE 68662 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Shelby, NE, ZIP 68662
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/25, roughly 240 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/14, about 170 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shelby in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 5b around Shelby has about 7 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.
The actual range around Shelby's last frost
04/25 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Shelby compares
Shelby's growing season runs about 170 days, ranking 29,154 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NE, it ranks 208 of 605.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Shelby's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Shelby can differ from the 68662 normal.