Hanford, CA 93230 Frost Dates
Hanford, CA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/07, roughly 163 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/01, roughly 296 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hanford in Zone 9a (20 to 25°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
With roughly 14 weeks until Hanford's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 02/07 isn't a guarantee
02/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/09 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/04 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Hanford against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 296 frost-free days, Hanford places 4,232 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,643 of 2,555.
Learn more
Before leaning on 93230's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Hanford can differ from the 93230 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Hanford's frost date answer different questions.