Dunsmuir, CA 96025 Frost Dates
96025, near Dunsmuir, CA: the frost window
Around 04/23 is the usual last spring frost, about 238 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/27, roughly 185 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dunsmuir in Zone 8a (10 to 15°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
Dunsmuir's growing season runs out in roughly 9 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/23 isn't a guarantee
04/23 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/05 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/12 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Dunsmuir against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 185 frost-free days, Dunsmuir places 23,206 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,327 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 96025: the frost range, on how to read the range around Dunsmuir's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Dunsmuir can differ from the 96025 normal.