Pilger, NE 68768 Frost Dates
68768, near Pilger, 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 10/07, roughly 160 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pilger in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
Pilger'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 04/14 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.
Pilger against the rest of the dataset
Pilger's growing season runs about 160 days, ranking 32,520 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NE, it ranks 392 of 605.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 68768: local microclimates, on what one yard in Pilger can differ from the 68768 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Pilger's frost date answer different questions.