When to plant in Clearwater, BC

Planting dates worked out from Clearwater's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 21

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 11

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 21

1 year in 10 by Sep 10

Frost-free days

131

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Vavenby · 18.7 km away · station 445 m, town 411 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 26 – Apr 9	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 15
Sweet pepper	Mar 12 – Mar 26	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 9 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 23
Peas	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 30
Bush beans	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 3
Carrot	—	Apr 20 – Jun 1	Jun 19
Beet	—	Apr 18 – May 30	Jun 7
Potato	—	Apr 20 – May 11	Jun 29
Kale	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 26
Broccoli	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – May 4	Jun 12
Cucumber	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 5
Winter squash	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Aug 9
Sweet corn	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 13 – May 4	Jul 12
Garlic	—	Sep 7 – Oct 5 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 13
Basil	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 17

Plan all 65 crops for Clearwater

Clearwater's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1914	May 29
1915	May 30
1916	Jun 11
1917	Jun 10
1918	Jun 3
1919	Jun 12
1920	Jun 23
1921	May 29
1922	Jun 18
1923	May 26
1924	May 11
1925	May 25
1926	Jun 10
1927	May 27
1928	May 13
1929	May 26
1930	May 27
1931	Jun 4
1932	Jun 6
1933	Jun 2
1934	Jun 25
1935	May 27
1936	May 23
1937	Jun 3
1938	Jun 6
1939	Jun 2
1940	May 28
1941	May 27
1942	May 16
1943	May 17
1944	May 13
1945	May 21
1946	May 30
1947	May 11
1948	May 19
1949	Jun 18
1950	Jun 6
1951	Jun 1
1952	May 30
1953	May 12
1954	May 22
1955	May 14
1956	May 13
1957	Apr 26
1958	May 18
1959	May 27
1960	Jun 4
1961	Apr 28
1962	May 16
1963	May 17
1964	May 25
1965	Jun 22
1966	May 28
1967	May 26
1968	Jun 4
1969	May 19
1970	May 30
1971	May 15
1972	May 25
1973	Jun 11
1974	May 20
1975	May 26
1976	Jun 4
1977	May 28
1978	May 24
1979	May 28
1980	Apr 30
1982	Jun 7
1983	May 1
1984	Jun 2
1985	May 15
1986	May 16
1987	May 20
1988	May 5
1989	May 20
1990	May 12
1991	May 2
1992	May 16
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 28
1995	May 21
1996	May 10
1997	May 18
1998	Apr 26
1999	May 30
2000	May 8
2001	May 20
2002	May 15
2003	May 19
2004	May 13
2005	May 24
2006	May 14
2008	May 9
2009	May 22
2010	May 12
2011	May 4
2012	May 18
2013	May 2
2014	May 11
2015	May 8
2016	May 10
2017	May 14
2018	Apr 25
2019	May 6
2020	May 13
2021	May 22
2022	May 22
2023	Apr 27
2024	May 18
2025	May 15
2026	Apr 30

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1914	92
1915	102
1916	89
1917	80
1918	132
1919	71
1920	74
1921	96
1922	87
1923	106
1924	110
1925	116
1926	92
1927	111
1928	92
1929	99
1930	95
1931	109
1932	83
1933	113
1934	80
1935	120
1936	107
1937	111
1938	129
1939	76
1940	129
1941	116
1942	123
1943	112
1944	148
1945	119
1946	110
1947	125
1948	127
1949	84
1950	92
1951	110
1952	97
1953	127
1954	129
1955	124
1956	112
1957	143
1958	107
1959	131
1960	94
1961	135
1962	109
1963	154
1964	107
1965	67
1966	124
1967	108
1968	109
1969	137
1970	103
1971	122
1972	122
1973	68
1974	114
1975	114
1976	121
1977	121
1978	117
1979	127
1982	98
1983	140
1984	112
1985	115
1986	118
1987	119
1988	135
1989	134
1990	137
1991	141
1992	99
1993	140
1994	157
1995	122
1996	135
1997	142
1998	152
1999	120
2000	136
2001	110
2002	113
2003	116
2004	129
2005	121
2006	124
2009	127
2010	132
2011	138
2012	116
2013	145
2014	122
2015	130
2016	140
2017	123
2018	146
2019	143
2020	155
2021	116
2022	121
2023	147
2024	145
2025	142

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1913	13.3 °C
1914	13.6 °C
1915	14.2 °C
1916	12.6 °C
1917	12.7 °C
1918	13.3 °C
1919	13.4 °C
1920	12.4 °C
1921	12.8 °C
1922	13.4 °C
1923	14.1 °C
1924	14.1 °C
1925	14.0 °C
1926	13.7 °C
1927	13.6 °C
1928	14.1 °C
1929	13.4 °C
1930	14.4 °C
1931	14.1 °C
1932	13.9 °C
1933	12.8 °C
1934	14.1 °C
1935	12.7 °C
1936	14.1 °C
1937	13.6 °C
1938	14.5 °C
1939	14.2 °C
1940	14.9 °C
1941	14.7 °C
1942	14.2 °C
1943	12.9 °C
1944	14.3 °C
1945	13.3 °C
1946	13.8 °C
1947	13.8 °C
1948	13.3 °C
1949	13.5 °C
1950	13.6 °C
1951	13.6 °C
1952	13.4 °C
1953	13.2 °C
1954	12.2 °C
1955	12.6 °C
1956	13.9 °C
1957	13.5 °C
1958	15.1 °C
1959	12.9 °C
1960	13.5 °C
1961	14.6 °C
1962	13.2 °C
1963	14.4 °C
1964	12.9 °C
1965	13.4 °C
1966	13.3 °C
1967	14.7 °C
1968	12.4 °C
1969	14.3 °C
1970	13.9 °C
1971	14.3 °C
1972	13.3 °C
1973	13.9 °C
1974	13.6 °C
1975	13.3 °C
1976	13.0 °C
1977	14.0 °C
1978	13.9 °C
1979	14.4 °C
1980	13.9 °C
1981	13.8 °C
1982	13.3 °C
1983	13.6 °C
1984	13.0 °C
1985	13.5 °C
1986	13.6 °C
1987	14.6 °C
1988	14.0 °C
1989	14.1 °C
1990	14.5 °C
1991	14.1 °C
1992	14.3 °C
1993	13.9 °C
1994	14.9 °C
1995	14.1 °C
1996	13.1 °C
1997	13.5 °C
1998	15.7 °C
1999	12.9 °C
2000	13.4 °C
2001	13.7 °C
2002	13.9 °C
2003	15.0 °C
2004	14.8 °C
2005	13.8 °C
2006	14.7 °C
2008	13.6 °C
2009	14.8 °C
2010	14.0 °C
2011	13.4 °C
2012	14.6 °C
2013	14.9 °C
2015	14.9 °C
2017	14.8 °C
2018	14.4 °C
2019	14.3 °C
2020	13.9 °C
2021	14.9 °C
2022	14.3 °C
2023	15.5 °C
2024	15.0 °C
2025	15.5 °C
2026	15.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1914, Clearwater's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Vavenby (NOAA GHCN-Daily, from Environment and Climate Change Canada). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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