Osceola County Frost Dates and Growing Season

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Kenansville, 23.8 km from Osceola County, elevation 61 ft

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for Kenansville. 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 January 26 and the first fall freeze around January 10, a growing season of about 354 days.

Median at 36°F: last February 6, first January 3
Median at 32°F: last January 26, first January 10
Median at 28°F: last January 14, first January 10

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 6	Feb 25	Feb 18	Feb 12	Feb 6	Feb 1	Jan 29	Jan 21	Jan 9
32°F	Feb 22	Feb 11	Feb 4	Jan 31	Jan 26	Jan 20	Jan 14	Jan 8	Jan 2
28°F	Feb 7	Jan 31	Jan 27	Jan 20	Jan 14	Jan 10	Jan 7	Jan 4	Dec 31
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	Dec 4	Dec 14	Dec 24	Dec 29	Jan 3	Jan 7	Jan 14	Jan 22	Feb 1
32°F	Dec 20	Dec 29	Jan 2	Jan 6	Jan 10	Jan 16	Jan 23	Jan 30	Feb 7
28°F	Dec 27	Jan 1	Jan 3	Jan 7	Jan 10	Jan 14	Jan 25	Jan 29	Feb 5
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	359	344	334	329	323	316	309	301	288
32°F	365	365	365	361	354	344	335	328	316
28°F	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	361	343
24°F	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365	365
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: 94% of years
32°F or colder: 62% of years
28°F or colder: 22% of years
24°F or colder: 3% 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: 477
Cooling degree days, base 65°F: 3,239
Growing degree days, base 40°F: 11,887
Growing degree days, base 45°F: 10,066
Growing degree days, base 50°F: 8,257
Growing degree days, base 55°F: 6,483
Growing degree days, base 60°F: 4,789

Growing degree days by month, base 50°F

Heating and cooling by month

Month	Heating DD	Cooling DD	Growing DD 50
January	169	30	337
February	94	57	388
March	57	106	516
April	9	198	639
May	0	350	815
June	0	453	903
July	0	518	983
August	0	527	992
September	0	459	909
October	5	327	787
November	36	152	566
December	109	63	423

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 23.8 km from Osceola County. 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 USC00084500 (Kenansville). Public domain.