Poway, CA 92166 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Poway, CA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/04, roughly 188 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/04, about 270 frost-free days later.
Poway sits in USDA Zone 10b (35 to 40°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
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.
The actual range around Poway's last frost
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
About 270 days separate Poway's last and first frost, putting it 5,533 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 1,953 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 10b 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.