Bowling Green Frost Dates and Growing Season

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Wauchula, 10.3 km from Bowling Green, elevation 60 ft

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for Wauchula. A median date has an even chance of a later freeze in spring, or an earlier one in fall.

The last spring freeze typically comes around February 4 and the first fall freeze around January 8, a growing season of about 332 days.

Median at 36°F: last February 22, first December 25
Median at 32°F: last February 4, first January 8
Median at 28°F: last January 28, first January 15

Last freeze in spring

The chance of a later freeze than the date shown. At 10 percent, one spring in ten still freezes after the date; planting after the 10 percent date for 32°F is the cautious choice.

Threshold	10%	20%	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	80%	90%
36°F	Mar 20	Mar 11	Mar 4	Feb 27	Feb 22	Feb 15	Feb 8	Feb 2	Jan 23
32°F	Mar 5	Feb 25	Feb 18	Feb 9	Feb 4	Feb 1	Jan 26	Jan 14	Jan 4
28°F	Feb 18	Feb 8	Feb 4	Jan 31	Jan 28	Jan 20	Jan 11	Jan 5	Dec 30
24°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
20°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
16°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

First freeze in fall

The chance of an earlier freeze than the date shown. At 10 percent, one fall in ten freezes before the date.

Threshold	10%	20%	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	80%	90%
36°F	Nov 27	Dec 3	Dec 11	Dec 18	Dec 25	Jan 1	Jan 5	Jan 13	Jan 25
32°F	Dec 13	Dec 24	Dec 31	Jan 4	Jan 8	Jan 13	Jan 20	Jan 31	Feb 7
28°F	Dec 24	Jan 1	Jan 5	Jan 11	Jan 15	Jan 25	Jan 31	Feb 3	Feb 9
24°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
20°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
16°F	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Growing season length

Days between the last spring and first fall freeze at each threshold, with the chance of a season at least that long.

Threshold	10%	20%	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	80%	90%
36°F	334	323	314	306	301	294	287	278	265
32°F	365	361	348	338	332	326	318	308	299
28°F	365	365	365	365	365	363	350	336	325
24°F	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	362
20°F	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365
16°F	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365

How often it gets that cold

The share of years with at least one night at or below each temperature.

36°F or colder: 99% of years
32°F or colder: 81% of years
28°F or colder: 39% of years
24°F or colder: 9% of years
20°F or colder: 0% of years
16°F or colder: 0% of years

Degree days

A degree day is one degree of the daily mean temperature beyond a base, for one day. Heating degree days count cold (the fuel a house burns), cooling degree days heat, growing degree days the warmth a crop needs; each crop has its own base.

Heating degree days, base 65°F: 598
Cooling degree days, base 65°F: 3,300
Growing degree days, base 40°F: 11,829
Growing degree days, base 45°F: 10,014
Growing degree days, base 50°F: 8,218
Growing degree days, base 55°F: 6,472
Growing degree days, base 60°F: 4,818

Growing degree days by month, base 50°F

Heating and cooling by month

Month	Heating DD	Cooling DD	Growing DD 50
January	194	45	336
February	122	63	370
March	72	111	507
April	15	194	629
May	1	351	815
June	0	465	915
July	0	526	991
August	0	538	1,003
September	0	474	924
October	6	326	784
November	48	131	533
December	139	77	413

What this means

NOAA computes these from the daily lows at the station over 1991-2020, fitting the dates of each year's last and first freeze to a distribution, so a date can be stated at any level of risk. 36°F is a frost risk for tender plants on a clear, calm night, since the ground cools below the air above it; 32°F is a freeze; 28°F is a hard freeze that kills most annuals.

The station is 10.3 km from Bowling Green. Low ground, valleys and open fields freeze earlier and later than a town center or a hillside.

Sources

NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals for station USC00089401 (Wauchula). Public domain.