Royal, NE 68773 Frost Dates
68773, near Royal, 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 158 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Royal, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Royal'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 04/15 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Royal against the rest of the dataset
Royal's growing season runs about 158 days, ranking 33,178 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within NE, it ranks 425 of 605.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 68773: the frost range, on how to read the range around Royal's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Royal can differ from the 68773 normal.