It's hard to believe we are even talking about this yet...The first frost of the season in North Dakota.

After all, we were just dealing with sweltering temperatures well into the 90s last week.  However, as you know in North Dakota the weather can switch like a light switch. Sometimes we can even skip a season and go right from winter to summer or summer to winter. It happens.

This morning's low temperature wasn't all that far off from a frost in the Capital Region.  The temp read 43 degrees this morning in my truck and we had a fall feel to the air for sure.

The Farmer's Almanac will be coming out with its winter prediction for North Dakota and the rest of the country in just a few weeks.

Just how accurate is the Farmer's Almanac with their winter forecasts? They claim they are accurate at an 80% clip. That's a lot more accurate than our local TV weather people for sure. HA! They get paid to right 20% of the time.

Not only does the Farmer's Almanac give you weather forecasts, but it also offers tips on gardening, health, and cooking.

They have been around a long time since 1818 and have been a staple in many homes for decades.

What is the difference between the first frost and the season's first freeze?

According to the National Weather Service, the first frost date is when the minimum temperature is 36 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

The first freeze date is when the minimum temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  As you can see by those temperatures, we were not too far off in Bismarck Mandan this morning from the first frost.

When can we expect the first frost in Bismarck Mandan in 2024?

In Bismarck, we can expect the first fall frost on September 25th, 2024.  This is an average using data from the National Weather Service.  The Farmer's Almanac adds there's only a 30% probability rate for this date.  That means there's a 70% chance a frost could occur before or after the date above.  Wow, talk about giving yourself a margin for error.

The rest of the major cities in North Dakota:

Fargo's first frost is September 28th.

Grand Forks' first frost is September 26th.

Minot's first frost is September 27th.

In the meantime, yes it will be cooler this week but the long-range forecast for next week looks more like summer again.  Soak it all in.  Things change pretty fast around here.

LOOK: The most extreme temperatures in the history of every state

Stacker consulted 2021 data from the NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to illustrate the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.

Keep reading to find out individual state records in alphabetical order.

Gallery Credit: Anuradha Varanasi

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