Bishop, CA 89003 Frost Dates
89003, near Bishop, CA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/12, roughly 227 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/03, roughly 204 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bishop in Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Bishop's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/12 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/30 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Bishop against the rest of the dataset
About 204 days separate Bishop's last and first frost, putting it 16,595 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 2,238 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 89003: local microclimates, on what one yard in Bishop can differ from the 89003 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8a and Bishop's frost date answer different questions.