When to plant in Berkeley, CA

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

Frost is rare in Berkeley: in 19 of the last 24 springs there was none at all. Frost dates matter less here than heat, so the planting table below is left out.

Station used: Berkeley · 1.1 km away · station 94 m, town 52 m. How we match towns to stations

Berkeley'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
1893	Feb 1
1894	Jan 6
1899	Feb 5
1910	Jan 5
1911	Feb 16
1913	Jan 7
1916	Jan 31
1917	Feb 1
1919	Jan 2
1920	Apr 21
1922	Feb 2
1923	Feb 9
1924	Jan 13
1929	Feb 7
1930	Jan 10
1932	Jan 14
1933	Jan 10
1937	Jan 22
1943	Jan 18
1949	Feb 12
1950	Feb 1
1957	Jan 29
1961	Jan 7
1962	Jan 22
1966	Jan 2
1999	Jan 9
2002	Jan 30
2007	Jan 14
2011	Feb 26
2013	Jan 14

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	332
1894	358
1895	363
1896	363
1897	363
1898	363
1899	328
1901	363
1906	363
1908	352
1909	363
1910	359
1911	317
1912	363
1913	341
1914	363
1915	362
1916	333
1918	363
1919	362
1920	253
1921	363
1922	331
1923	324
1924	337
1925	363
1926	363
1927	363
1928	363
1929	326
1930	354
1931	363
1932	328
1933	354
1934	363
1935	363
1936	363
1937	342
1938	363
1939	363
1940	363
1941	363
1942	363
1943	346
1944	363
1945	363
1946	363
1947	363
1949	321
1950	332
1951	363
1953	363
1954	363
1955	363
1956	363
1957	335
1958	363
1959	363
1960	363
1961	357
1962	342
1963	363
1964	363
1965	353
1966	362
1967	363
1968	353
1969	363
1970	363
1972	340
1973	363
1974	363
1975	363
1976	363
1977	363
1978	362
1979	363
1980	363
1981	363
1983	363
1984	357
1985	359
1986	363
1987	363
1990	353
1995	363
1998	353
1999	355
2000	363
2002	334
2003	363
2004	363
2005	363
2006	363
2007	350
2008	363
2009	340
2010	363
2011	307
2013	324
2014	363
2015	363
2018	363
2022	363

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	15.0 °C
1894	15.6 °C
1895	16.0 °C
1896	15.7 °C
1897	16.4 °C
1898	15.5 °C
1899	15.0 °C
1900	16.1 °C
1901	15.0 °C
1906	16.0 °C
1908	15.5 °C
1909	15.7 °C
1910	15.1 °C
1911	14.4 °C
1912	15.9 °C
1913	16.6 °C
1914	15.3 °C
1915	16.1 °C
1916	15.7 °C
1918	15.9 °C
1919	15.7 °C
1920	15.8 °C
1921	16.0 °C
1922	16.0 °C
1923	16.1 °C
1924	14.7 °C
1925	15.1 °C
1926	15.6 °C
1927	15.0 °C
1928	14.8 °C
1929	15.4 °C
1930	15.0 °C
1931	16.1 °C
1932	15.0 °C
1933	14.2 °C
1934	15.8 °C
1935	15.1 °C
1936	16.1 °C
1937	15.3 °C
1938	15.1 °C
1939	15.6 °C
1940	15.6 °C
1941	16.0 °C
1942	15.0 °C
1943	15.7 °C
1944	14.6 °C
1945	15.6 °C
1946	15.2 °C
1947	17.4 °C
1949	16.3 °C
1950	15.8 °C
1951	15.0 °C
1952	15.7 °C
1953	15.9 °C
1954	16.2 °C
1955	14.9 °C
1956	15.8 °C
1957	16.7 °C
1958	16.9 °C
1959	16.8 °C
1960	15.7 °C
1961	16.1 °C
1962	15.2 °C
1963	15.8 °C
1964	15.3 °C
1965	14.7 °C
1967	15.0 °C
1968	15.7 °C
1969	15.6 °C
1970	16.0 °C
1972	16.0 °C
1973	16.4 °C
1974	15.5 °C
1975	14.8 °C
1976	16.4 °C
1977	15.5 °C
1978	16.1 °C
1979	16.9 °C
1980	15.2 °C
1981	16.4 °C
1982	15.5 °C
1983	16.6 °C
1984	16.5 °C
1985	15.6 °C
1986	15.5 °C
1987	16.7 °C
1989	16.2 °C
1990	16.6 °C
1995	16.2 °C
1996	16.4 °C
1998	16.2 °C
1999	15.9 °C
2000	17.0 °C
2001	16.7 °C
2002	16.3 °C
2003	17.2 °C
2004	17.5 °C
2005	16.6 °C
2006	16.8 °C
2007	16.5 °C
2008	16.2 °C
2009	16.8 °C
2010	15.6 °C
2011	15.9 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	17.4 °C
2015	17.6 °C
2016	16.7 °C
2017	17.3 °C
2018	16.5 °C
2019	17.3 °C
2020	18.2 °C
2022	17.9 °C
2023	16.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Berkeley's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Berkeley (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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