FrostDateCheck

South Lake Tahoe, CA 89448 Frost Dates

Frost dates for South Lake Tahoe, CA, ZIP 89448

Zone 6b

Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 06/07, roughly 283 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/28, about 113 frost-free days later.

Zone 6b (-5 to 0°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for South Lake Tahoe, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 6b around South Lake Tahoe has about 4 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.

Why 06/07 isn't a guarantee

06/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/21 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/24 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How South Lake Tahoe compares

At roughly 113 frost-free days, South Lake Tahoe places 39,383 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,495 of 2,555.

Learn more

the frost range explains how to read the range around South Lake Tahoe's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in South Lake Tahoe can differ from the 89448 normal.