When to plant in Oberlin, KS

Planting dates worked out from Oberlin's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 19

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 7

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 5

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

149

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Oberlin · 1.1 km away · station 788 m, town 781 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 19 – Jun 2	Jul 13
Sweet pepper	Mar 10 – Mar 24	May 19 – Jun 2	Jul 18
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 5 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 19
Peas	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 20
Bush beans	—	May 12 – Jun 2	Jul 1
Carrot	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 15
Beet	—	Apr 9 – May 21	May 29
Potato	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 25
Kale	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 22
Broccoli	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Cucumber	Apr 21 – Apr 28	May 19 – Jun 2	Jul 8
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 21 – Apr 28	May 19 – Jun 2	Jul 3
Winter squash	Apr 21 – Apr 28	May 19 – Jun 2	Aug 7
Sweet corn	—	May 12 – Jun 2	Jul 11
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jul 8
Garlic	—	Sep 21 – Oct 19 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 3
Basil	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 19 – Jun 2	Jul 15

Plan all 65 crops for Oberlin

Oberlin's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1914	May 13
1915	May 21
1916	May 3
1917	May 8
1918	May 10
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 27
1921	May 3
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 16
1924	May 24
1925	May 5
1926	May 14
1927	May 11
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 16
1930	May 19
1931	May 22
1932	May 16
1933	Apr 16
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 5
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 27
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 15
1941	Apr 22
1942	May 18
1943	May 16
1944	May 6
1946	May 21
1947	May 29
1948	May 12
1949	Apr 17
1950	May 5
1951	May 7
1952	May 11
1953	May 14
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 28
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 28
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 1
1961	Apr 28
1962	May 1
1963	May 22
1964	May 13
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 24
1967	May 15
1968	May 17
1969	Apr 28
1970	May 3
1971	Apr 27
1972	Apr 24
1973	May 15
1974	Apr 16
1975	Apr 19
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 22
1978	May 4
1979	May 11
1980	May 8
1981	May 11
1982	May 6
1983	May 19
1986	Apr 16
1987	Apr 23
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	May 11
1991	May 6
1992	May 30
1993	May 4
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 28
1996	May 3
1998	May 1
1999	Apr 19
2000	May 13
2001	Apr 23
2002	May 25
2004	May 15
2005	May 4
2006	May 17
2008	May 12
2009	Apr 12
2010	May 8
2011	May 17
2012	May 10
2013	May 7
2014	May 16
2015	May 21
2017	May 1
2018	Apr 23
2019	May 10

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1914	144
1915	136
1916	134
1917	152
1918	132
1919	162
1922	162
1923	149
1924	127
1925	156
1926	133
1928	146
1929	148
1930	150
1931	126
1932	143
1933	167
1934	151
1935	145
1936	168
1937	152
1938	133
1939	161
1940	145
1941	176
1942	124
1943	126
1944	140
1946	124
1948	138
1949	147
1950	150
1951	143
1952	147
1953	142
1954	163
1955	161
1956	173
1957	192
1958	155
1959	171
1960	170
1961	149
1962	169
1963	158
1964	136
1965	148
1966	129
1967	134
1968	141
1969	160
1970	145
1971	144
1972	176
1973	149
1974	139
1975	164
1976	143
1977	169
1978	139
1979	164
1980	147
1981	128
1982	136
1983	122
1986	178
1987	170
1989	138
1990	134
1991	151
1992	130
1993	146
1994	145
1995	145
1996	146
1998	164
1999	166
2000	134
2001	165
2004	151
2005	147
2006	146
2008	156
2009	173
2010	157
2011	127
2012	144
2013	161
2014	119
2015	147
2017	162
2018	170
2019	153

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1914	20.9 °C
1915	17.8 °C
1917	18.5 °C
1918	19.6 °C
1919	19.9 °C
1920	17.8 °C
1921	19.9 °C
1922	20.2 °C
1923	18.7 °C
1924	18.4 °C
1925	20.4 °C
1926	19.6 °C
1927	19.2 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	19.1 °C
1930	19.5 °C
1931	19.9 °C
1932	20.4 °C
1933	20.5 °C
1934	21.9 °C
1935	19.6 °C
1936	21.5 °C
1937	21.1 °C
1938	20.8 °C
1939	21.7 °C
1940	20.0 °C
1941	20.0 °C
1942	19.5 °C
1943	20.3 °C
1944	18.6 °C
1945	18.1 °C
1946	20.1 °C
1948	20.6 °C
1949	18.8 °C
1951	18.8 °C
1952	21.1 °C
1953	20.4 °C
1954	21.7 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	21.1 °C
1957	19.5 °C
1958	20.2 °C
1959	20.5 °C
1960	20.8 °C
1961	19.4 °C
1962	20.7 °C
1963	22.1 °C
1964	20.6 °C
1965	19.4 °C
1966	19.7 °C
1967	18.6 °C
1968	19.6 °C
1969	20.4 °C
1970	20.2 °C
1971	20.1 °C
1972	20.0 °C
1973	19.3 °C
1974	19.8 °C
1975	19.6 °C
1976	20.3 °C
1977	21.3 °C
1978	20.8 °C
1979	20.0 °C
1980	21.3 °C
1981	20.4 °C
1982	18.8 °C
1983	19.9 °C
1986	20.5 °C
1987	20.1 °C
1988	20.4 °C
1989	18.6 °C
1990	19.3 °C
1991	19.6 °C
1992	17.6 °C
1993	17.2 °C
1994	19.0 °C
1995	17.6 °C
1996	17.8 °C
1998	20.0 °C
1999	18.7 °C
2000	20.6 °C
2001	20.5 °C
2002	20.3 °C
2004	18.7 °C
2005	19.4 °C
2006	19.3 °C
2007	19.6 °C
2008	18.2 °C
2009	18.0 °C
2010	19.5 °C
2011	19.1 °C
2012	20.9 °C
2013	19.4 °C
2014	18.7 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2017	19.4 °C
2018	19.3 °C
2019	19.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1914, Oberlin's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Oberlin (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

McCook, NE Atwood Hoxie Norton Cambridge, NE Colby