Arcata, CA 95524 Frost Dates
95524, near Arcata, CA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 02/22, about 178 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/07, roughly 293 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Arcata 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
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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
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
About 293 days separate Arcata's last and first frost, putting it 4,285 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 1,661 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 95524: zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 9b and Arcata's frost date answer different questions, and the frost range, on how to read the range around Arcata's dates instead of trusting one.