Shasta Lake, CA 96048 Frost Dates
96048, near Shasta Lake, CA: the frost window
Around 05/03 is the usual last spring frost, about 248 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/11, roughly 159 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shasta Lake in Zone 8b (15 to 20°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
Shasta Lake's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 05/03 isn't a guarantee
05/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/27 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Shasta Lake against the rest of the dataset
About 159 days separate Shasta Lake's last and first frost, putting it 32,625 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 2,420 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 96048: local microclimates, on what one yard in Shasta Lake can differ from the 96048 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 8b and Shasta Lake's frost date answer different questions.