Elk Grove, CA 94294 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Elk Grove, CA, ZIP 94294
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/02, roughly 158 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/02, about 301 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elk Grove in Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 9b around Elk Grove has about 14 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.
Why 02/02 isn't a guarantee
02/02 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/02 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/05 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Elk Grove compares
At roughly 301 frost-free days, Elk Grove places 3,859 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,585 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9b and Elk Grove's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range explains how to read the range around Elk Grove's dates instead of trusting one.