The National Weather Service says Southeast Missouri may be in for the first frost of autumn this weekend.
A cold front moving through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois tonight sets the potential for frost to form Oct. 7. North winds may keep temperatures too warm Friday night and Saturday morning for widespread frost, but if it occurs it will be most likely along and north of a line from Poplar Bluff to Madisonville, Kentucky.
More widespread frost is expected Saturday night into Sunday morning. Temperatures may even dip below freezing in a few areas in the pre-dawn hours Sunday. Unprotected tender vegetation could be damaged or killed, so gardeners should plan to cover vulnerable plants.
Frost can form at overall temperatures as high as 36 degrees in the right conditions. In Poplar Bluff, the average first freeze date is Oct. 25. The earliest and latest freezes were recorded Sept. 30 in 1899 and 1924, and Nov. 27, 2009. The average date of the first hard freeze is early November.