Sacramento, CA 95838 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Sacramento, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 01/12, about 137 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/16, about 341 frost-free days later.
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 Sacramento, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 16 weeks of growing season left in Sacramento before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 01/12 isn't a guarantee
01/12 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/08 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 12/18 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Sacramento compares
At roughly 341 frost-free days, Sacramento places 2,576 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 1,134 of 2,555.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Sacramento can differ from the 95838 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Sacramento's frost date answer different questions.