When to plant in Oakes, ND

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

Safe to plant out

May 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 28

1 year in 10 by Sep 15

Frost-free days

140

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fullerton 1 Ese · 23.9 km away · station 437 m, town 400 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Oakes plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 14
Sweet pepper	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 11 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 25
Peas	—	Apr 15 – May 13	Jun 9
Bush beans	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 2
Carrot	—	Apr 23 – Jun 4	Jun 22
Beet	—	Apr 23 – Jun 4	Jun 12
Potato	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jul 2
Kale	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 4
Broccoli	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 14
Cucumber	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 4
Winter squash	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Aug 8
Sweet corn	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jul 14
Garlic	—	Sep 14 – Oct 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 15 – May 13	May 23
Basil	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Oakes

Oakes'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
1898	May 16
1899	May 18
1900	Jun 8
1901	Jun 7
1902	Jun 21
1904	May 14
1905	May 25
1906	May 27
1907	May 27
1908	May 8
1909	May 16
1910	Jun 2
1911	May 4
1912	May 16
1913	May 9
1914	May 14
1915	Jun 9
1916	May 11
1917	May 27
1918	May 20
1919	May 9
1920	May 1
1921	May 15
1922	Apr 21
1923	May 17
1924	Jun 6
1925	May 17
1926	May 19
1927	May 11
1928	May 27
1929	May 20
1930	Jun 6
1931	Apr 22
1932	May 27
1933	May 10
1934	May 24
1935	May 10
1936	May 19
1937	May 9
1938	May 8
1939	May 11
1940	May 16
1941	May 23
1942	May 15
1943	May 27
1944	May 7
1945	May 16
1946	Jun 2
1947	May 30
1949	May 24
1950	May 6
1951	May 10
1952	May 12
1953	May 14
1954	May 19
1955	May 10
1956	May 4
1957	May 9
1958	May 6
1959	May 23
1960	May 12
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 28
1963	May 23
1964	May 31
1965	May 28
1966	May 11
1967	May 20
1968	May 21
1969	Jun 20
1970	May 5
1971	May 12
1972	May 9
1973	May 17
1974	May 15
1975	May 12
1976	May 7
1977	May 2
1978	May 1
1979	May 21
1980	May 15
1981	May 13
1982	May 8
1983	May 25
1984	May 28
1985	May 7
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 22
1988	May 17
1989	May 6
1990	May 18
1991	May 4
1992	May 26
1993	May 18
1994	May 7
1995	May 14
1996	May 12
1997	May 20
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 23
2000	May 14
2001	Apr 24
2002	May 24
2003	May 20
2004	May 14
2005	May 15
2006	May 11
2007	Apr 17
2008	May 21
2009	May 16
2010	May 8
2011	May 3
2013	May 12
2014	May 16
2015	May 19
2016	May 14
2017	May 2
2018	May 10
2019	May 10
2020	May 11
2021	May 11
2022	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	87
1899	121
1900	100
1901	101
1902	74
1904	119
1905	129
1906	125
1907	84
1908	143
1909	111
1911	137
1912	122
1913	134
1914	132
1915	117
1916	126
1917	97
1918	118
1919	138
1920	150
1921	137
1922	141
1923	140
1924	118
1925	126
1926	125
1927	136
1928	118
1929	108
1930	111
1932	115
1933	138
1934	113
1935	138
1936	127
1937	132
1938	133
1939	134
1940	116
1941	126
1942	126
1943	105
1944	153
1946	90
1947	114
1949	112
1950	148
1951	136
1952	129
1953	129
1954	125
1955	122
1956	124
1957	129
1958	146
1959	109
1960	123
1961	100
1962	144
1963	140
1964	96
1965	99
1966	136
1967	129
1968	87
1969	109
1970	130
1971	128
1972	139
1973	121
1974	109
1975	122
1976	138
1977	151
1978	142
1979	84
1980	130
1981	125
1982	110
1983	118
1984	105
1985	136
1986	154
1987	162
1988	139
1989	139
1990	120
1991	138
1992	118
1993	119
1994	154
1995	128
1996	139
1997	122
1998	165
1999	158
2000	132
2001	163
2002	122
2003	121
2004	136
2005	143
2006	131
2007	150
2008	144
2009	135
2010	146
2011	134
2013	156
2014	140
2015	142
2016	144
2017	159
2018	146
2019	140
2020	120
2021	162

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1898	14.9 °C
1899	13.7 °C
1900	16.9 °C
1901	16.0 °C
1902	14.0 °C
1905	14.1 °C
1906	15.1 °C
1907	12.4 °C
1908	15.0 °C
1909	14.5 °C
1911	15.0 °C
1912	14.5 °C
1913	15.6 °C
1914	15.4 °C
1915	14.2 °C
1916	14.8 °C
1917	15.0 °C
1918	15.4 °C
1919	16.7 °C
1920	14.8 °C
1921	16.8 °C
1922	16.4 °C
1923	15.3 °C
1924	13.8 °C
1925	16.3 °C
1926	15.7 °C
1927	14.5 °C
1928	14.5 °C
1929	14.9 °C
1930	16.2 °C
1932	16.6 °C
1933	17.3 °C
1934	17.1 °C
1935	15.2 °C
1936	18.1 °C
1937	16.9 °C
1938	16.8 °C
1939	16.8 °C
1940	16.1 °C
1941	17.0 °C
1942	14.7 °C
1943	15.3 °C
1944	15.5 °C
1945	14.3 °C
1946	15.8 °C
1947	15.3 °C
1949	17.4 °C
1950	14.5 °C
1951	15.0 °C
1952	17.2 °C
1953	15.9 °C
1954	15.7 °C
1955	18.0 °C
1956	15.6 °C
1957	16.0 °C
1958	15.6 °C
1959	16.7 °C
1960	16.0 °C
1961	15.2 °C
1962	15.5 °C
1963	16.4 °C
1964	15.8 °C
1965	14.4 °C
1966	15.0 °C
1967	14.8 °C
1968	14.8 °C
1969	16.7 °C
1970	17.4 °C
1971	16.3 °C
1972	16.2 °C
1973	17.1 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	15.6 °C
1976	17.9 °C
1977	17.3 °C
1978	16.6 °C
1979	14.9 °C
1980	17.1 °C
1981	16.6 °C
1982	15.4 °C
1983	16.7 °C
1984	16.1 °C
1985	16.2 °C
1986	15.8 °C
1987	17.8 °C
1988	18.5 °C
1989	16.5 °C
1990	16.3 °C
1991	17.1 °C
1992	14.6 °C
1993	14.3 °C
1994	16.1 °C
1995	15.6 °C
1996	15.1 °C
1997	15.5 °C
1998	16.9 °C
2002	16.1 °C
2010	16.5 °C
2011	15.9 °C
2012	17.0 °C
2013	15.3 °C
2014	15.1 °C
2015	17.0 °C
2016	16.8 °C
2017	16.2 °C
2018	16.3 °C
2019	15.5 °C
2020	16.1 °C
2021	17.3 °C
2022	16.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1898, Oakes's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Fullerton 1 Ese (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Ellendale Lisbon Britton, SD Groton, SD Aberdeen, SD Valley City