Fruit Trees for Omaha, Council Bluffs and the Loess Hills, Nebraska and Iowa

On March 5, 1960, the old NOAA station northeast of Council Bluffs, at 1,079 ft, read −25°F. In the same cold snap Eppley Airfield, 4 miles away on the Missouri floodplain, bottomed at −14°F. That 11°F split is why picking fruit trees for Omaha, Council Bluffs and the Loess Hills starts with where your yard sits between the bluffs and the bottoms.

The map covers the Omaha metro on both sides of the river: Omaha east of about 84th Street, Bellevue and Offutt in Sarpy County, Carter Lake, and on the Iowa side Council Bluffs, Crescent, Honey Creek, Underwood, Neola, McClelland, Treynor and Silver City, in Pottawattamie County and the north edge of Mills County. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The main number is a 30-year planning low, the one our cold hardiness calculator uses, built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter and the lay of the land. Plan on it; it isn't the record. You also get the MFTC zone (that number in half zones), the typical winter (an average year's coldest night, what USDA's zones are built on) and the spring layer: how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Omaha on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Omaha plans for −23°F (MFTC zone 4b), typical winter −11°F. The middle of the growing ground plans for −25°F, right on the line between 4a and 4b, and nine tenths of it falls between −28°F and −22°F. The warm end is Omaha's bench, where South Omaha and Blackstone plan for −22°F. The cold end isn't the river bottom. It's the valleys inside the Loess Hills, where Neola, Underwood and Weston plan for −28°F. The spring layer spreads wider, from 4°F warmer than downtown at South Omaha to 12°F colder at the mouth of Mosquito Creek below Council Bluffs.

Why the map looks the way it does

Two bluff lines face each other across the Missouri. Between them lies the floodplain, Iowa's "only truly flat region," from 981 ft at East Omaha and Carter Lake down to the Platte's mouth at 942 ft, the lowest ground on the map. West and south of downtown Omaha the city climbs onto an upland bench: South Omaha at 1,176 ft, Blackstone at 1,204 ft and Dundee at 1,223 ft, the last two about 210 to 240 ft above NoDo and East Omaha. On the Iowa side the Loess Hills rise, steep on their west faces and gentler to the east, to an upland around 1,215 to 1,272 ft. The valleys cut into those hills sit far lower.

On a clear, calm night the ground loses its heat to the sky, the air touching it chills and gets heavy, and it slides downhill: off the bluffs, down Mosquito, Indian, Silver and Honey creeks on the Iowa side and the Papio valley on the Nebraska side, and out onto the bottoms. Most of the floodplain's cold is made where it sits, though; ground that flat has nowhere to send it. The floor near downtown Omaha and central Council Bluffs plans for −25°F, and the open bottoms at Ascot and the mouths of the Platte and the Papio −26°F.

The warm ground is the thermal belt, the benches and slopes above the pool where cold drains past instead of sitting. South Omaha, 190 ft above its floor, and Blackstone, 150 ft up, plan for −22°F. The winter number takes the fine-scale terrain at a quarter strength (our station test couldn't prove it at full strength); the spring layer takes it at full strength, and that's where the bench shows. On a still bloom night Blackstone reads 4°F warmer than downtown, and NoDo, 2.2 miles east and 215 ft lower, 7°F colder. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaged 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 ft higher. The Council Bluffs airport station, at 1,240 ft, has the warmest 30-year number in the station table below, −22°F, against −23°F at Eppley and −25°F at Offutt, both on the floodplain.

The coldest ground is the valleys inside the Loess Hills: Neola, Underwood and Weston at −28°F, Chautauqua, Silver City and Mineola at −27°F. They're small valley floors roughly 100 to 200 ft below the upland beside them, in open farm country, with the hills draining cold into them all night and no city to hold heat. The old Council Bluffs 6 NE station (1897 to 1964) sat at 1,079 ft about 2 miles from Chautauqua, well below the upland around it, and its yearly low ran a median 7°F colder than Eppley's and Offutt's over the years they share. Climb out and it changes fast: Gilliatt, 1.8 miles east of Chautauqua and 110 ft higher, plans for −24°F.

Town heat is the other big driver; UNL Extension says the city's buildings and streets make Omaha warmer than the farmland around it. Eppley Airfield sits on the floodplain between the city and the river, and in 90 years on file it has never read colder than −23°F. Glenwood 3SW, 3 miles out of Glenwood at the same 980 ft and just south of the map, hit −30°F in the December 23, 1983 cold snap, when Eppley's low was −21°F. On the map the built-up floodplain plans for −24°F and the open bottoms −26°F.

Water doesn't help much. A river bottom is still the lowest ground, and Carter Lake averages 6 ft deep, shallow enough to freeze early and stop helping in midwinter. Wind can matter more. In the February 2, 1996 outbreak Eppley and Glenwood 3SW both read −23°F and the old Weather Service office station, at 1,309 ft just west of the map, −25°F: the even spread you'd expect when arctic air comes in on a wind, with no inversion for a bench to sit above. The thermal belt only works on still nights, and those are the nights that kill blossoms.

Downtown Omaha, NoDo and the bench west to Dundee

Downtown sits on a slope 80 ft above the floodplain and plans for −23°F (zone 4b), typical winter −11°F. NoDo, just north, is floodplain: −24°F, typical winter −12°F, 7°F colder than downtown at bloom. Little Bohemia, just south and low on the slope, plans for −23°F but reads 5°F colder. West of downtown the bench starts. Blackstone, 150 ft above the floor, plans for −22°F (zone 4b), typical winter −10°F, 4°F warmer than downtown at bloom. Dundee, around 50th and Dodge, sits 130 ft up: −24°F, 2°F warmer at bloom. Happy Hollow, 100 ft up, plans for −24°F and reads 1°F warmer.

On the bench, Westcot (−45°F) and Sungold (−40°F) apricots, Lapins (−35°F) and Gold (−35°F) sweet cherries, Contender (−30°F) and Blushingstar (−25°F) peaches, and Superior plum (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F) to pollenize it, all fit. Tom McCamant grows Contender at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana, and it's the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F; Blushingstar came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage. For apples, think disease first: UNL's Lancaster County office names Liberty (−30°F), Enterprise (−30°F) and Freedom (−35°F) for scab and cedar-apple rust resistance. Keep NoDo to apples and bush fruit.

South Omaha, Bellevue and the bottoms to the Platte

South Omaha (Sheelytown, Little Italy, Dahlman and the old Union Stockyards ground) sits on the bench 190 ft above the floor and is the warmest town or neighborhood on the map: −22°F (zone 4b), typical winter −9°F, 4°F warmer than downtown at bloom. The floor within 3 miles plans for −26°F.

Bellevue's east edge is on the Missouri, and the 2019 floods destroyed about 200 Bellevue homes and put almost half of Offutt's runway under water. Town plans for −23°F (zone 4b), typical winter −10°F, 3°F colder than downtown at bloom, and its benches plan for −22°F, the warmest bench median of any town on the map. The low spots run cold at bloom: Gilmore Junction, in a creek bottom northwest of town, and the mouth of Papillion Creek both plan for −26°F and read 11°F colder than downtown, and the Platte's mouth plans for −26°F (zone 4a) and reads 10°F colder. La Platte, on a toe slope near the south edge, plans for −23°F but reads 6°F colder.

South Omaha and the Bellevue benches take the downtown list plus Hardired nectarine (−25°F), Wenatchee Moorpark apricot (−30°F) and Italian plum (−35°F). Bing (−20°F) is worth a try only here, against a south wall; Lapins is the safer bet.

Florence, North Omaha, East Omaha and Carter Lake

Florence, in far north Omaha, goes back to Winter Quarters (1846 to 1848) and the Florence Mill (1846), with Mill Creek once running past the mill to the river. Town plans for −23°F (zone 4b), typical winter −11°F, 3°F colder than downtown at bloom, and the coldest tenth of the ground within 3 miles plans for −26°F; a lot in an old creek line plays colder than the slope above it. North toward the Ponca Hills, Nashville sits on a 16 percent hillside at −26°F (zone 4a), the coldest named place on the Nebraska side.

East Omaha is floodplain on the Missouri's old bed. Carter Lake is the Saratoga Bend, cut off by the 1877 flood, which is why Carter Lake, Iowa is the only Iowa city west of the Missouri. East Omaha and Carter Lake plan for −24°F (zone 4b), typical winter −12°F, 7°F colder than downtown at bloom, and Garden Valley Courts −23°F and 7°F colder. Winter isn't the problem on these flats; Honeycrisp (−45°F), Haralson (−45°F) and Kindercrisp (−50°F) have room to spare. Bloom is, so plant apples, honeyberry (−50°F), currants and raspberries low and give plums and pears your highest corner.

Council Bluffs: the West End, Manawa and the bluffs

The West End and Manawa are floodplain. Central Council Bluffs plans for −24°F (zone 4b), typical winter −12°F, 6°F colder than downtown Omaha at bloom, with the floor within 3 miles at −25°F and the benches at −23°F. Mosquito Creek runs through the Madison Avenue area to the Missouri about 5 miles downstream, and its mouth reads 12°F colder than downtown Omaha at bloom, the coldest spring reading of any place we checked. Lake Manawa, another Missouri channel cut off by a flood (1881), sits on the same low ground.

The warm ground is up where the Lincoln Monument, Kirn Park and KOIL Point at Fairmont Park look out over the valley. The base of the hills along Harry Langdon Boulevard and County Road L35 is toe-slope ground where the hollows spill cold onto the bottoms. East of town along I-80, Ditmars Orchard sits up a big hill, right where we'd put one. Northeast of town, Chautauqua, at the toe of the bluffs, plans for −27°F (zone 4a) and reads 5°F colder at bloom.

On a bluff lot, Westcot, Lapins, Black Gold (−35°F) and Contender have room on the winter number and a fair shot at bloom. In the West End and Manawa, plant apples, Kerr applecrab (−50°F), haskap and currants.

Crescent, Honey Creek and the north bottoms

Crescent sits at the base of the Loess Hills across the Mormon Bridge from North Omaha, below Mt. Crescent and Hitchcock Nature Center. Town plans for −25°F (zone 4a, barely), typical winter −12°F, 8°F colder than downtown at bloom. Out on the open bottom it's colder at bloom: Ascot, right on the floor northwest of town, plans for −26°F and reads 9°F colder, and Honey Creek, 4.7 miles north, −25°F and 9°F colder. Put apples and bush fruit on the bottom and early bloomers on the slopes above town. Farther up the Missouri, there's our Sioux City and the Missouri bluffs map.

Treynor, McClelland and the Loess Hills upland

East of the bluffs the hills open into upland farm country on deep loess, the "sugar clay," and the best spring readings on the Iowa side come from up here. Treynor, 120 ft above the floor, plans for −25°F (zone 4b), typical winter −12°F, 1°F warmer than downtown at bloom. McClelland, 150 ft up, plans for −25°F (zone 4b) and reads even with downtown. Peter plans for −24°F, Bentley −26°F (zone 4a) and Dumfries −22°F, all 2°F warmer at bloom. Quick, on a toe slope 2.8 miles south of McClelland, reads 11°F colder than McClelland on the same bloom night.

Montana State recommends an uphill site on a 4 to 8 percent grade, and McClelland, Peter and Gilliatt all sit in that range. Stay off the razor ridges and peak-and-saddle crests, which take the wind and can blow bare of snow. The hills' gentle east slopes are what Bob Purvis likes, quick to warm on a frosty spring morning.

Apricots, peaches and sweet cherries have their best shot on the Iowa side up here: Westcot, Sungold and Debbie's Gold (−50°F) apricots, Contender and Siberian C (−35°F) peaches, Lapins and Gold. Add Luscious (−40°F) and Harrow Sweet (−30°F) pears, which UNL lists for fire blight resistance, and Superior, Alderman (−40°F) and Pipestone (−40°F) plums with Toka, which Iowa State calls a good pollenizer for most hybrid plums. Grapes are the hills' old crop: Concord (−30°F), Marquette (−35°F) and Frontenac (−35°F).

Underwood, Neola, Silver City and the valleys in the hills

Underwood sits on a valley floor in the hills, 10 ft above its bottom, with Mosquito Creek southwest of town: −28°F (zone 4a), typical winter −15°F, 6°F colder than downtown at bloom. Peter, 2.6 miles away and 195 ft higher, plans for −24°F and reads 2°F warmer than downtown, so the two sit 4°F apart in winter and 8°F at bloom. Neola is the coldest named place on the map at −28°F (zone 4a), 6°F colder at bloom. About 8 miles south of Treynor, Silver City sits right on a valley floor: −27°F (zone 4a), typical winter −15°F, 8°F colder at bloom, with its benches at −24°F.

Plant these valley floors to −28°F, and plant for bloom: Haralson, Honeycrisp, Kindercrisp, Wolf River (−45°F) and Spartan (−45°F) apples, Kerr and Centennial (−50°F) applecrabs, honeyberry, currants and raspberries. Put plums, pears and stone fruit on the slopes above town.

Spring frost and bloom in the Omaha metro

The spring layer follows the same drainage as the winter cold, only stronger. Among the places we name, Omaha's bench and the Iowa upland read even with downtown to 4°F warmer; the built-up floodplain 6°F to 7°F colder; the open bottoms and hill valleys mostly 6°F to 9°F colder; and the creek mouths and lowest toe slopes (Folsom, Gilmore Junction, Quick, and the mouths of the Platte, the Papio and Mosquito Creek) 10°F to 12°F colder.

Frost dates from NOAA station records, 1991 to 2020 medians (last 32°F in spring, last 28°F, first 32°F in fall, first 28°F, frost-free days, and the late last 32°F that comes 1 year in 10):

• Omaha Eppley Airfield: April 18, April 9, October 14, October 27, 176 days, May 4.
• Glenwood 3SW (17 years, same 980 ft, just south of the map): April 23, April 10, October 10, October 13, 168 days, May 5.

Eppley is the warm case; the station out of town sees its last 32°F 5 days later and its first fall 28°F two weeks earlier. On October 22, 2025, Eppley bottomed at 35°F while towns around the metro dropped as low as 27°F, and on May 2, 2026, the Weather Service's Frost Advisory left the Omaha metro out while parts of the Missouri River Valley were expected to freeze. UNL CropWatch says Nebraska springs are warming without a clear trend to an earlier last frost, which raises the risk of trees waking early and getting hit.

Michigan State's fruit people say open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying at about 28°F. Site comes first; the FAO's frost protection manual calls it "the single most important method of frost protection," and UNL tells eastern Nebraska growers to plant on ground higher than its surroundings. Apricots, peaches, sweet cherries and plums go highest, apples and haskap lower. Only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and fully open haskap flowers take 19°F. Unless the fruit is clustered (cherries, grapes), most fruit can lose half its blossoms with little effect. Through bloom, mow short, don't till, and water a day or two before a forecast frost.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading in NOAA station records in and around the map is −37°F at Pacific Junction, just south of it, on February 13, 1905, from a station with only 10 years on file. Glenwood 3SW's coldest in 91 years is −30°F (December 23, 1983), the old Omaha city station's −27°F (January 12, 1912), and Eppley's −23°F, reached again on February 16, 2021, when Lincoln and Norfolk hit −31°F in the same cold snap.

Eppley's average yearly low is −13°F. We haven't checked USDA's 2023 map for Omaha itself, but that average falls in USDA's zone 5b range (−15°F to −10°F). NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below a station's average winter low, and downtown fits: −11°F typical, −23°F to plan for. So our zone reads a full zone or more colder than 5b.

Timing matters as much as depth. On November 11, 1940, the Armistice Day storm followed an afternoon near 65°F with drops of 50°F across Nebraska and Iowa, and the Council Bluffs grape co-op lost much of its vines and 97 percent of its apples. Cold before trees harden off kills at temperatures a January tree shrugs off, which is why we taper water from mid-August.

What you can grow here

Winter cold isn't what limits fruit here. Nearly everything we sell clears −28°F, the coldest number at any named place on the map; bloom nights and disease sort out the rest.

Omaha's bench and the Iowa upland: −22°F to −26°F, warm at bloom

South Omaha, Blackstone, Dundee, downtown, the Bellevue benches, the Council Bluffs bluffs, Treynor, McClelland, Peter, Bentley and Dumfries. Apricots: Westcot, Sungold, Debbie's Gold and Wenatchee Moorpark. Peaches: Contender, Siberian C and Veteran (−30°F), plus Blushingstar and Hardired nectarine on the Omaha and Bellevue benches (−22°F to −24°F). Sweet cherries: Lapins, Gold, Black Gold and White Gold (−35°F). Plums: Superior, Alderman, Pipestone, Stanley (−30°F) and Italian, with Toka. Pears: Luscious, Harrow Sweet and Seckel (−35°F). Grapes: Concord, Marquette and Frontenac.

The Missouri floodplain: −23°F to −26°F, cold at bloom

NoDo, East Omaha, Carter Lake, Garden Valley Courts, the West End and Manawa, Crescent, Honey Creek, Ascot and the Papio and Platte bottoms. Apples: Honeycrisp, Haralson, Kindercrisp, Liberty, Enterprise and Wealthy (−50°F). Crabs: Kerr and Dolgo (−55°F). Tart cherries: Meteor (−40°F) and Montmorency (−30°F). Plums and pears only on your highest spot.

The valleys in the Loess Hills: −26°F to −28°F

Underwood, Neola, Weston, Quick, Chautauqua, Silver City and Mineola, plus Nashville on the Nebraska side. Apples: Haralson, Honeycrisp, Kindercrisp, Wolf River, Spartan and Wealthy. Applecrabs: Kerr, Centennial and Trailman (−60°F); if you only plant one tree, make it Kerr or Trailman. Tart cherry: Evan's Bali (−45°F). Stone fruit goes up the hill.

Berries fit anywhere: honeyberry, Montana Black Currant (−50°F), Red Lake currant (−40°F), Boyne raspberry (−40°F), and Juliet and Romeo bush cherries (−50°F), which UNL's Lancaster County office recommends. Our pollination maps sort out which trees pollenize which.

UNL says peaches are more dependable on seedling rootstock than dwarfing, and warns off dwarfing quince rootstock for pears. Roots are the weak link and snow protects them; at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 rootstock has seen near −50°F under snow without damage. UNL blames most Nebraska winter injury on desiccation (cold plus wind plus low humidity), so mulch the roots and hold snow where you can. A windbreak helps, but not a solid one across the low side of a slope, where it dams cold air back into the trees.

Loess has no hard layers to stop roots and runs about pH 6.9 to 7.3, but it's very erodible, so plant along the contour on a steep lot. On the floodplain, test drainage first (dig 2 ft, fill, let it drain, refill: under 10 hours is well drained). Watch for cedar-apple rust and scab on apples, fire blight on pears, black knot on plums, birds on cherries, and herbicide drift from corn fields out in the hills.

Fruit history: Council Bluffs grape country

Mormon pilgrims brought the first Concord grapes to southwest Iowa, and grapes have grown in the Loess Hills since 1857. The Council Bluffs Grape Growers Association formed as a co-op in 1893. The county historical society puts the peak in 1907, when southwest Iowa had almost 300 vineyards and Iowa ranked sixth in the nation in grapes (a wine-industry article puts Iowa's peak in the late 1920s). The co-op shipped about 1,250,000 baskets a year. The 1916 and 1940 freezes, land sold to developers after 1942, and 2,4-D drift from corn fields after World War II ended it. Today Ditmars Orchard and Vineyard, started by Lyle Ditmars in 1993, grows about 4,500 trees and more than 30 apple varieties east of Council Bluffs.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Omaha?

On our map downtown Omaha plans for −23°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter low of −11°F, and Council Bluffs plans for −24°F, also 4b. The Loess Hills valleys run −27°F to −28°F (zone 4a). Eppley's average yearly low, −13°F, falls in USDA's zone 5b range; USDA zones are built on that average, ours on the bad night.

When is the last frost in Omaha?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F at Eppley Airfield on April 18 and the last 28°F on April 9. One year in 10 the last 32°F comes May 4 or later. Eppley runs warm; Glenwood 3SW, just south of the map, has a median of April 23, and the creek bottoms and hill valleys run later still.

Can you grow peaches in Omaha and Council Bluffs?

Yes, and bloom is the gamble more than winter. Siberian C (−35°F) and Contender (−30°F) clear every named place on this map, and Blushingstar (−25°F) clears Omaha's bench. Iowa State recommends peaches south of US 30 (this whole map is) and expects a crop about one year in three or four, so give them your warmest bench ground.

Can you grow sweet cherries in Omaha?

Yes, on high ground. Lapins, Gold, Black Gold and White Gold have come through −35°F, and Iowa State says Gold, BlackGold and WhiteGold do best in the southern two-thirds of Iowa. UNL treats them as a trial for protected spots; tart cherries like Meteor are the reliable choice.

Why is Eppley Airfield warmer than the suburbs?

Eppley sits on the floodplain between the city and the river, and the city around it holds heat on still, clear nights. In 90 years on file it has never read colder than −23°F, while Glenwood 3SW, out of town at the same 980 ft, has hit −30°F. On October 22, 2025, Eppley bottomed at 35°F while towns around the metro fell as low as 27°F.

Where are the frost pockets around Omaha and Council Bluffs?

On a still bloom night the mouth of Mosquito Creek reads 12°F colder than downtown Omaha, Gilmore Junction and the Papio mouth near Bellevue 11°F colder, and Ascot and Honey Creek near Crescent 9°F colder. In winter the coldest ground is inside the Loess Hills, where Neola, Underwood and Weston plan for −28°F.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.