Barstow, CA 92311 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Barstow, CA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/22, roughly 178 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/23, about 271 frost-free days later.
Zone 9a (20 to 25°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 Barstow, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 12 weeks of growing season left in Barstow before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Barstow's last frost
02/22 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. 03/24 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Barstow compares
Barstow's growing season runs about 271 days, ranking 5,419 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 1,875 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9a and Barstow's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Barstow's dates instead of trusting one.