Amherst, NE 68812 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Amherst, NE, ZIP 68812
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/30, roughly 245 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/10, about 162 frost-free days later.
Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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 Amherst, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5b around Amherst has about 6 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.
Why 04/30 isn't a guarantee
04/30 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Amherst compares
About 162 days separate Amherst's last and first frost, putting it 31,875 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NE, it ranks 363 of 605.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Amherst's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Amherst's dates instead of trusting one.