Stockton, CA 95206 Frost Dates
95206, near Stockton, CA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/06, roughly 162 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/01, roughly 304 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stockton in Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Stockton's growing season runs out in roughly 14 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/06 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/28 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/31 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Stockton against the rest of the dataset
Stockton's growing season runs about 304 days, ranking 3,742 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 1,511 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 95206: local microclimates, on what one yard in Stockton can differ from the 95206 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 9b and Stockton's frost date answer different questions.