Poway, CA 92038 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Poway, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/04, about 188 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/04, about 270 frost-free days later.
Zone 11a (40 to 45°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 Poway, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 14 weeks of growing season left in Poway before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 03/04 isn't a guarantee
03/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/29 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/10 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Poway compares
At roughly 270 frost-free days, Poway places 5,500 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,920 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 11a and Poway's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Poway's dates instead of trusting one.