Tehachapi, CA 93283 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Tehachapi, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/05, about 220 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/03, about 212 frost-free days later.
Tehachapi sits in USDA Zone 9a (20 to 25°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
About 10 weeks of growing season left in Tehachapi before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Tehachapi's last frost
04/05 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 03/08 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/21 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Tehachapi compares
At roughly 212 frost-free days, Tehachapi places 14,584 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,207 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9a and Tehachapi's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Tehachapi's dates instead of trusting one.