Sonora, CA 95347 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Sonora, CA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/22, roughly 237 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/02, about 192 frost-free days later.
Sonora sits in USDA Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 9 weeks of growing season left in Sonora 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
04/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/05 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/14 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Sonora compares
At roughly 192 frost-free days, Sonora places 20,290 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,304 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Sonora's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Sonora's dates instead of trusting one.