McLean, NE 68747 Frost Dates
68747, near McLean, NE: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/30, about 245 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/06, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
McLean sits in USDA Zone 5b (-15 to -10°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
McLean's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
McLean against the rest of the dataset
McLean's growing season runs about 160 days, ranking 32,562 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NE, it ranks 398 of 605.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 68747: local microclimates, on what one yard in McLean can differ from the 68747 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and McLean's frost date answer different questions.