First Fall Freeze Dates In Indianapolis

THIS PAGE WAS LAST UPDATED ON OCTOBER 4, 2023

Autumn brings the return of much colder weather and once the calendar turns to October, the hunt begins for the First Fall Freeze Date in Indianapolis. I've compiled a full list of first fall freeze dates with low temperature observations from 1871-2022.
There was 115 years where the first fall freeze occurred between September 30th-October 31st. This means, 76% of the years in Indianapolis has seen the first fall freeze by Halloween. The other 36 years, roughly 24%, saw the 1st Fall Freeze on November 1st or later (listed in BOLD below). The average date of the first fall freeze is around October 17th.

1871: October 28th (31°)
1872: November 14th (26°)
1873: October 24th (30°)
1874: October 31st (30°)
1875: October 12th (28°)
1876: October 9th (30°)
1877: November 1st (31°)
1878: October 23rd (32°)
1879: October 24th (32°)
1880: October 18th (31°)
1881: November 14th (28°)
1882: November 13th (29°)
1883: November 1st (32°)
1884: October 23rd (32°)
1885: October 21st (31°)
1886: October 2nd (32°)
1887: October 12th (32°)
1888: October 3rd (32°)
1889: October 7th (29°)
1890: November 3rd (32°)
1891: October 16th (32°)
1892: October 30th (28°)
1893: October 29th (30°)
1894: November 6th (29°)
1895: October 1st (32°)
1896: October 18th (31°)
1897: November 12th (26°)
1898: October 27th (27°)
1899: September 30th (30°) THIS IS THE EARLIEST 1st FALL FREEZE DATE RECORDED AT THE NWS CITY OFFICE IN DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS
1900: November 8th (27°)
1901: November 3 (30°)
1902: November 27 (29°) THIS WAS THE LATEST 1st FALL FREEZE DATE RECORDED AT THE NWS CITY OFFICE IN DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS
1903: October 24th (31°)
1904: October 27th (31°)
1905: October 26th (31°)
1906: October 10th (31°)
1907: October 28th (31°)
1908: October 31st (31°)
1909: October 12th (32°)
1910: October 28th (30°)
1911: October 29th (32°)
1912: November 1st (32°)
1913: October 20th (32°)
1914: October 26th (32°)
1915: November 14th (31°)
1916: October 20th (32°)
1917: October 12th (32°)
1918: November 1st (32°)
1919: November 4th (30°)
1920: November 10th (32°)
1921: November 1st (28°)
1922: November 20th (32°)
1923: October 30th (27°)
1924: November 8th (32°)
1925: October 10th (31°)
1926: October 25th (32°)
1927: November 5th (30°)
1928: October 29th (32°)
1929: October 23rd (32°)
1930: October 18th (32°)
1931: November 6th (32°)
1932: October 30th (32°)
1933: November 7th (30°)
1934: October 28th (30°)
1935: October 4th (32°)
1936: October 26th (31°)
1937: October 14th (31°)
1938: November 9th (30°)
1939: October 29th (32°)
1940: November 7th (31°)
1941: October 29th (32°)
1942: October 25th (32°)
1943: October 17th (27°) STARTING THIS YEAR, OFFICIAL WEATHER OBSERVATIONS BEGAN TO BE RECORDED AT INDIANAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
1944: October 26th (32°)
1945: October 9th (32°)
1946: October 1st (32°)
1947: November 8th (29°)
1948: October 17th (26°)
1949: October 27th (30°)
1950: November 5th (24°)
1951: October 29th (32°)
1952: October 6th (31°)
1953: October 30th (32°)
1954: October 28th (32°)
1955: October 24th (31°)
1956: November 8th (30°)
1957: October 20th (31°)
1958: October 30th (31°)
1959: October 18th (29°)
1960: October 20th (29°)
1961: October 27th (28°)
1962: October 24th (29°)
1963: October 30th (27°)
1964: October 9th (32°)
1965: October 24th (30°)
1966: October 30th (29°)
1967: October 11th (32°)
1968: October 5th (31°)
1969: October 17th (31°)
1970: October 16th (30°)
1971: November 4th (27°)
1972: October 18th (32°)
1973: October 29th (32°)
1974: October 2nd (29°)
1975: October 30th (31°)
1976: October 10th (31°)
1977: October 13th (31°)
1978: October 15th (31°)
1979: October 10th (30°)
1980: October 5th (32°)
1981: October 3rd (29°)
1982: October 17th (30°)
1983: November 4th (28°)
1984: November 2nd (32°)
1985: October 2nd (31°)
1986: November 3rd (31°)
1987: October 4th (31°)
1988: October 8th (31°)
1989: October 4th (32°)
1990: October 19th (29°)
1991: October 7th (31°)
1992: October 17th (31°)
1993: September 30th (32°) THIS DATE IS SHARED WITH 1899 AS THE EARLIEST 1st FALL FREEZE DATE
1994: October 25th (32°)
1995: October 22nd (32°)
1996: October 20th (32°)
1997: October 22nd (27°)
1998: October 23rd (31°)
1999: October 25th (31°)
2000: October 7th (30°)
2001: October 7th (30°)
2002: November 1st (27°)
2003: October 2nd (32°)
2004: October 17th (31°)
2005: October 29th (30°)
2006: October 12th (31°)
2007: November 6th (32°)
2008: October 28th (30°)
2009: October 18th (31°)
2010: November 3rd (31°)
2011: October 30 (31°)
2012: October 8 (31°)
2013: October 22 (30°)
2014: November 1 (29°)
2015: October 18 (30°)
2016: November 12 (30°) THIS IS THE LATEST 1st FALL FREEZE DATE AT INDIANAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
2017: October 29 (30°)
2018: October 21 (28°)
2019: October 31 (29°)
2020: October 16 (20°)
2021: November 3 (28°)
2022: October 19 (32°)
2023: ???

For more information on Freeze Dates in Indianapolis and surrounding areas visit https://www.weather.gov/ind/frostfreezedate