FrostDateCheck

San Luis Obispo, CA 93410 Frost Dates

Frost dates for San Luis Obispo, CA, ZIP 93410

Zone 9b

Around 01/16 is the usual last spring frost, about 141 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/25, about 349 frost-free days later.

Zone 9b (25 to 30°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 San Luis Obispo, not a forecast for this year.

What to do before the first frost

Zone 9b around San Luis Obispo has about 17 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.

How much risk comes with planting early here

01/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/26 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/11 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How San Luis Obispo compares

San Luis Obispo's growing season runs about 349 days, ranking 2,338 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 1,044 of 2,555.

Learn more

local microclimates explains what one yard in San Luis Obispo can differ from the 93410 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9b and San Luis Obispo's frost date answer different questions.