Imperial, CA 92244 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Imperial, CA, ZIP 92244
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 01/06, roughly 131 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/21, about 347 frost-free days later.
Imperial sits in USDA Zone 10a (30 to 35°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
Zone 10a around Imperial has about 16 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 01/06 isn't a guarantee
01/06 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/06 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Imperial compares
At roughly 347 frost-free days, Imperial places 2,393 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,080 of 2,555.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Imperial can differ from the 92244 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 10a and Imperial's frost date answer different questions.