Palmdale, CA 93543 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Palmdale, CA?
Around 03/13 is the usual last spring frost, about 197 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/01, about 258 frost-free days later.
Palmdale sits in USDA Zone 8b (15 to 20°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 14 weeks of growing season left in Palmdale before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 03/13 isn't a guarantee
03/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/10 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/17 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Palmdale compares
At roughly 258 frost-free days, Palmdale places 6,616 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,057 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8b and Palmdale's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Palmdale's dates instead of trusting one.