Madera, CA 93638 Frost Dates
Madera, CA: when does the frost end?
Around 02/18 is the usual last spring frost, about 174 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/27, roughly 281 days after the last spring frost.
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 Madera, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 13 weeks until Madera's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/18 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/18 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Madera against the rest of the dataset
Madera's growing season runs about 281 days, ranking 4,782 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 1,765 of 2,555.
Learn more
Before leaning on 93638's figures: the frost range explains how to read the range around Madera's dates instead of trusting one, while local microclimates explains what one yard in Madera can differ from the 93638 normal.