Monterey, CA 93940 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Monterey, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/01, about 126 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/30, about 365 frost-free days later.
Zone 10a (30 to 35°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 Monterey, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 18 weeks of growing season left in Monterey before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Monterey's last frost
01/01 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/21 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 Monterey compares
At roughly 365 frost-free days, Monterey places 1,133 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 483 of 2,555.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Monterey's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Monterey can differ from the 93940 normal.