FrostDateCheck

Hanford, CA 93202 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Hanford, CA?

Zone 9a

Around 02/07 is the usual last spring frost, about 163 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/01, about 296 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 Hanford, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

About 14 weeks of growing season left in Hanford before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

How much risk comes with planting early here

02/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/09 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/04 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Hanford compares

At roughly 296 frost-free days, Hanford places 4,231 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,642 of 2,555.

Learn more

the frost range covers how to read the range around Hanford's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Hanford can differ from the 93202 normal.