Gilroy, CA 95020 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Gilroy, CA?
Around 02/24 is the usual last spring frost, about 180 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/27, about 277 frost-free days later.
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 Gilroy, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 13 weeks of growing season left in Gilroy 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
02/24 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/23 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/04 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Gilroy compares
At roughly 277 frost-free days, Gilroy places 4,959 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,814 of 2,555.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Gilroy can differ from the 95020 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Gilroy's frost date answer different questions.