Hershey, NE 69143 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Hershey, NE, ZIP 69143
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/04, about 249 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/09, about 156 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 Hershey, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 5b around Hershey 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 05/04 isn't a guarantee
05/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/21 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Hershey compares
About 156 days separate Hershey's last and first frost, putting it 33,771 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within NE, it ranks 460 of 605.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Hershey's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Hershey's dates instead of trusting one.