Modesto, CA 95358 Frost Dates
Modesto, CA: when does the frost end?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/31, about 156 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/05, roughly 312 days after the last spring frost.
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 Modesto, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 14 weeks until Modesto's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 01/31 isn't a guarantee
01/31 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 02/25 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.
Modesto against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 312 frost-free days, Modesto places 3,464 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,444 of 2,555.
Learn more
Before leaning on 95358's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Modesto can differ from the 95358 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9b and Modesto's frost date answer different questions.