Alturas, CA 96009 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Alturas, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/28, about 273 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/29, about 125 frost-free days later.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alturas in Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Alturas before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Alturas's last frost
05/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 05/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 06/16 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Alturas compares
At roughly 125 frost-free days, Alturas places 38,763 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,481 of 2,555.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 7a and Alturas's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Alturas's dates instead of trusting one.