Arcata, CA 95502 Frost Dates
95502, near Arcata, CA: the frost window
Around 02/22 is the usual last spring frost, about 178 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/07, roughly 293 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 Arcata, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Arcata'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.
Why 02/22 isn't a guarantee
02/22 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/23 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.
Arcata against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 293 frost-free days, Arcata places 4,283 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,659 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 95502: the frost range, on how to read the range around Arcata's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Arcata can differ from the 95502 normal.