Alturas, CA 96101 Frost Dates
96101, near Alturas, CA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 06/03, about 279 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 09/12, roughly 97 days after the last spring frost.
Zone 6b (-5 to 0°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 Alturas, not a forecast for this year.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Alturas's growing season runs out in roughly 2 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 06/03 isn't a guarantee
06/03 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 05/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 06/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Alturas against the rest of the dataset
About 97 days separate Alturas's last and first frost, putting it 39,777 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within CA, it ranks 2,526 of 2,555.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 96101: the frost range, on how to read the range around Alturas's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates, on what one yard in Alturas can differ from the 96101 normal.