FrostDateCheck

Poway, CA 92167 Frost Dates

92167, near Poway, CA: the frost window

Zone 11a

Around 03/04 is the usual last spring frost, about 188 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/04, roughly 270 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Poway in Zone 11a (40 to 45°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

Poway's growing season runs out in roughly 14 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

The actual range around Poway's last frost

03/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/29 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Poway against the rest of the dataset

Poway's growing season runs about 270 days, ranking 5,534 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 1,954 of 2,555.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 92167: local microclimates, on what one yard in Poway can differ from the 92167 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 11a and Poway's frost date answer different questions.