Shasta Lake, CA 96051 Frost Dates
Shasta Lake, CA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/23, roughly 238 days out. 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 Shasta Lake in Zone 9a (20 to 25°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
With roughly 9 weeks until Shasta Lake'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
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.
Shasta Lake against the rest of the dataset
Shasta Lake's growing season runs about 185 days, ranking 23,092 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 2,324 of 2,555.
Learn more
Before leaning on 96051's figures: zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Shasta Lake's frost date answer different questions, while the frost range explains how to read the range around Shasta Lake's dates instead of trusting one.