Shasta Lake, CA 96049 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Shasta Lake, CA?
The last spring frost here typically falls around 03/03, about 187 days from today. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/21, about 261 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 Shasta Lake, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 12 weeks of growing season left in Shasta Lake before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
Why 03/03 isn't a guarantee
03/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/31 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/09 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Shasta Lake compares
At roughly 261 frost-free days, Shasta Lake places 6,395 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within CA, it ranks 2,044 of 2,555.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Shasta Lake can differ from the 96049 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Shasta Lake's frost date answer different questions.