National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

 

** PLEASE NOTE: As of April 18th, NWS Hastings considers its ENTIRE 30-county forecast area  as "eligible" for possible Frost Advisories/Freeze Warnings for the remainder of spring 2025 (these Warnings/Advisories may not be issued in ALL circumstances, especially if potential frost/freeze conditions are deemed marginal)  **



General Overview of Spring Frost/Freeze Information: 
The mid-April through early-May time frame typically features the final occurrence of freezing temperatures and/or frost of the spring season within our 30-county forecast area of south central Nebraska and north central Kansas. Based on 30-year averages, the date of the AVERAGE last spring freeze (32°-or-colder) ranges from around April 18 in our far southeastern local communities (such as Beloit KS), to around April 24-29 in the Tri Cities (Grand Island/Hastings/Kearney), to around May 2-7 in our far northern and western communities (such as Greeley, Gothenburg and Cambridge). HOWEVER, after viewing the maps and tables contained in this story, it is readily apparent that the phrase "average last freeze date" is quite relative, as most sites exhibit a 5-9 week range between the earliest/latest last dates on record! 

Please refer to the wealth of information within the tabs below (including tables/maps of average last frost/freeze/hard freeze dates) to stay on top of the frost/freeze situation across our local area this spring. This includes the "Looking Ahead" section just below, which will highlight upcoming opportunities for frost/freeze within the next 7-10 days and also gives our insight as to when we believe the last frost/freeze of spring 2025 has most likely occurred. 



Looking Ahead 7-10 Days:  ** The Next "MAYBE" Chance For Frost MIGHT Be Friday Night-Sat AM (May 3)? **
(updated April 28)

  • April 29-May 2 (Mon night-Tues AM through Thurs night-Fri AM): There is currently very little concern for frost/freeze within our area, as low temperatures are forecast to drop no lower than the 40s in most areas.  
     
  • May 3 (Fri night-Sat AM): Although still several nights away and not a "sure thing", this is the main night during the next week that bears watching for possible (at least localized) frost potential as lows could try dropping into the 30s (assuming skies are clear and winds are as light as currently expected). 
     
  • May 4-6 (Sat night-Sun AM through Mon night-Tues AM): At this time, there appears to be almost zero concern for frost/freeze within our area, as low temperatures are forecast to hold up mainly in the 50s. 


Recapping Last Spring's (2024) Final Frost/Freeze:
Spring 2024: For the majority of our 30-county coverage area, spring 2024 featured a near-to-earlier than average last freeze, and a solidly earlier-than-average last frost (this was in contrast to spring 2023, which leaned a bit later-than-average). During spring 2024, most of our area observed its last freeze (32º-or-colder) no later than April 22-24, and far south-southeast locations such as Plainville and Beloit KS actually had their last hard freeze (28º-or-colder) way back on March 28th! As for temperatures supportive of frost development (36º-or-colder), nearly our entire area saw no frost beyond the April 24-30th time frame...a good 1-2 weeks earlier than average. 


 


 

For more Frost/Freeze related information including an interactive mapping tool, check out the following resource:

  • MRCC Freeze Date Tool...note: this site uses data that defaults back to 1950 (unless modified by the user), so average dates might vary slightly from what is presented elsewhere in this story.

 

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