Ridgecrest, CA 93527 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Ridgecrest, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/09, about 193 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/20, about 250 frost-free days later.
Zone 8b (15 to 20°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 Ridgecrest, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 12 weeks of growing season left in Ridgecrest 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
03/09 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/16 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/08 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Ridgecrest compares
At roughly 250 frost-free days, Ridgecrest places 7,465 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,090 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8b and Ridgecrest's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Ridgecrest's dates instead of trusting one.