THE WEATHER BEAT · OCT 15

Freeze Warnings from Denver to Bismarck tonight, and Freeze Watches from Lubbock to southern Wisconsin for Friday night

Twelve Weather Service offices had Freeze Warnings out Thursday evening for lows as cold as 25 by Friday morning, and 21 offices had Freeze Watches for a.

By the Weather Rock October 15, 2026, 8:41 p.m. · 7 min read

GOES satellite view of the event region — GOES visible view of the Plains and Upper Midwest on the afternoon of October 15, 2026, the day Freeze Warnings and Freeze Watches went up from Colorado to Wisconsin. Image: NOAA GOES-East GeoColor via NASA GIBS, 2026-10-15 18:00Z.

Key points

As of Thursday evening, Freeze Warnings ran from Colorado's Front Range to North Dakota for the hours before dawn Friday, with lows forecast as cold as 25 in western North Dakota and 26 to 32 around Denver.
A second cold night follows. Freeze Watches cover late Friday night into Saturday morning from the Texas South Plains through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
The products warn of the same thing in near-identical words: frost and freeze conditions could kill crops and other sensitive plants, and could damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

Tonight, officially

The wind made most of Thursday's headlines across the West, but by evening the longer list on the Weather Service's board was about cold. Behind the wind, colder air settles over the Plains, and forecast offices from Denver to Grand Forks put out Freeze Warnings for the early hours of Friday.

In Denver, the warning issued at 9:50 a.m. MDT covers the Front Range Urban Corridor and all of the eastern plains, from midnight to 9 a.m. MDT Friday. The office expects 26 to 32 degrees, coldest out on the plains. Farther north, NWS Bismarck issued its warning at 7:19 p.m. CDT for western and much of central North Dakota, including the Minot area, with lows as cold as 25 from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT Friday. The same product carried a Wind Advisory until midnight CDT for northwest gusts up to 55 mph. NWS Grand Forks added Benson, Cavalier, Ramsey, Towner and western Walsh counties, at 29 degrees from 1 to 9 a.m. CDT.

Office	Product	Issued	In effect	Lowest temperature named
Denver CO	Freeze Warning	9:50 a.m. MDT Thu	midnight to 9 a.m. MDT Fri	26 to 32
Bismarck ND	Freeze Warning (with Wind Advisory, gusts to 55 mph)	7:19 p.m. CDT Thu	1 to 8 a.m. CDT Fri	25
Grand Forks ND	Freeze Warning (with Wind Advisory, gusts to 45 mph)	2:19 p.m. CDT Thu	1 to 9 a.m. CDT Fri	29

*Source: NWS alerts at api.weather.gov, read at 00:39 UTC on October 16. At that hour the alert feed held 17 Freeze Warnings from 12 offices and 33 Freeze Watches from 21 offices. The table lists the offices quoted here.*

Friday night, the watches

The second night reaches much farther south and east. On Thursday afternoon and evening, office after office posted a Freeze Watch for "late Friday night through Saturday morning". A watch means the freeze is possible and the office is still deciding.

On the Texas South Plains, NWS Lubbock's watch covers 13 counties, including Lubbock County. It says lows could reach 28 in the far southwestern Panhandle and 32 near the edge of the Caprock. NWS Amarillo covers the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles at 26, and NWS Norman added Ellis and Harper counties in western Oklahoma at 30. In Kansas, the Wichita office named Saline County and four of its neighbors at 30.

The Midwest piece is the biggest. NWS Des Moines says "much of Iowa," including Polk County, could reach 30. Omaha's watch runs from Douglas and Lancaster counties in Nebraska across southwest Iowa. Sioux Falls covers southeast South Dakota and its neighbors in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. The Twin Cities office lists Hennepin and Ramsey counties among dozens across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Milwaukee covers Dane, Waukesha and south central Wisconsin at 27, the coldest figure east of the Panhandles. Chicago named Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties in northern Illinois at 30. Kansas City's watch covers northwest and north central Missouri, from Atchison County to Sullivan County, plus a corner of northeast Kansas.

If you live under one of these and still have tomatoes or potted plants outside, the offices are telling you this is the weekend to deal with them.

Office	Area named	Lowest temperature named	Ends
Lubbock TX	13 South Plains counties incl. Lubbock	28 to 32	10 a.m. CDT Sat
Amarillo TX	Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles	26 (28 in Cimarron, Dallam, Hartley)	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Norman OK	Ellis, Harper	30	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Wichita KS	Barton, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Russell, Saline	30	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Kansas City MO	northwest and north central Missouri, northeast Kansas	30	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Omaha NE	east Nebraska, southwest Iowa	30	8 a.m. CDT Sat
Sioux Falls SD	southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska	30	8 a.m. CDT Sat
Des Moines IA	much of Iowa	30	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Twin Cities MN	central and southern Minnesota, west Wisconsin	not stated	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Milwaukee WI	south central and southeast Wisconsin	27	9 a.m. CDT Sat
Chicago IL	Winnebago, Boone, Ogle	30	9 a.m. CDT Sat

*Source: NWS Freeze Watch products, issued 12:37 p.m. to 7:26 p.m. CDT on Thursday, October 15, read from api.weather.gov. Each office's watch says "From late Friday night through Saturday morning."*

This is a morning summary, not emergency information. For live warnings see weather.gov and your local officials.

The rock's live forecast for the places in this story