Chico, CA 95928 Frost Dates
Chico, CA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/07, roughly 163 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/18, roughly 313 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 Chico, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 16 weeks until Chico's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/01 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 12/27 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Chico against the rest of the dataset
About 313 days separate Chico's last and first frost, putting it 3,436 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 1,431 of 2,555.
Learn more
Before leaning on 95928's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Chico can differ from the 95928 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9b and Chico's frost date answer different questions.