Weather: Keep a Close Eye on Frost Conditions in your Area

Frost is the condition that occurs when temperatures reach a low enough level to turn moisture into ice. Usually you will hear the term frost more so when the overnight dew that gets formed on your front lawn or on your car freezes.

If you do not live in an area affected by temperatures that drop near or below thirty-two degrees then you probably never experienced frost conditions. For those of us that live in areas where you can get frost then you know every well how aggravating it can be sometimes.

You get up early in the morning, go out to your car, put the key into the ignition, turn the car on and you are ready to leave, except the fact that the dew froze overnight and now you have frost on your windows. You can’t see out of them therefore you get out the trusty old ice scraper and start chiseling away at the stuff so you can get on your way.

As annoying as frost can be for your early morning commute it can be devastating to your crops if you are a gardener, especially if you grow vegetables that require stable, warmer temperatures like cucumbers, or peppers.

Frost conditions can literally wipe out your entire garden in a matter of minutes. But there is hope, well for us gardeners anyway; you will still have to scrape away at those windows if you want to drive your car.

The United States Department of Agriculture has a great website (just do a Google search on the name United States Department of Agriculture) that gives you detailed frost maps of the entire country. These maps can tell you when your area will be hit with the first frost of the season and of course the last frost of the season.

If you are an avid gardener such as me, you can use these maps and this information to time your garden just right so that when your plants go into the ground there will be very little chance they get hit with frost. I say very little because you never can fully predict weather conditions. I will take the final frost date for my area and add a week or two to just to make sure. That still gives me plenty of time to have a great garden.

Whether it’s your earlier morning drive or making sure the vegetables in your garden do not get wiped out you should be keeping an eye on the frost conditions in your are. By monitoring the conditions you can be well prepared to handle frost when it occurs.


About the Author

Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds.