Fort Jones, CA 96086 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Fort Jones, CA?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/04, roughly 249 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/13, about 160 frost-free days later.
Fort Jones sits in USDA Zone 8b (15 to 20°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
About 7 weeks of growing season left in Fort Jones before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Fort Jones's last frost
05/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/15 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/23 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Fort Jones compares
Fort Jones's growing season runs about 160 days, ranking 32,466 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within CA, it ranks 2,417 of 2,555.
Learn more
the frost range covers how to read the range around Fort Jones's dates instead of trusting one. local microclimates covers what one yard in Fort Jones can differ from the 96086 normal.