When to plant in Calexico, CA

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

Frost is rare in Calexico: in 18 of the last 23 springs there was none at all. Frost dates matter less here than heat, so the planting table below is left out.

Safe to plant out

Jan 24

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jan 5

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 29

1 year in 10 by Dec 24

Frost-free days

363

median, 1991–2020

Station used: El Centro 2 Ssw · 11.6 km away · station -9 m, town 1 m. How we match towns to stations

Calexico'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
1933	Feb 11
1934	Jan 12
1935	Jan 22
1936	Jan 20
1937	Feb 10
1939	Feb 27
1940	Jan 18
1942	Jan 4
1943	Feb 10
1944	Feb 21
1945	Jan 30
1946	Feb 14
1947	Jan 31
1948	Feb 14
1949	Feb 16
1950	Feb 1
1951	Mar 4
1952	Jan 11
1953	Feb 21
1955	Feb 24
1956	Feb 18
1957	Jan 30
1958	Jan 23
1959	Jan 21
1960	Feb 25
1961	Jan 4
1962	Mar 1
1963	Jan 22
1964	Feb 26
1965	Mar 5
1966	Mar 4
1967	Mar 4
1968	Jan 8
1969	Feb 1
1970	Jan 31
1971	Mar 6
1972	Feb 3
1973	Jan 29
1974	Feb 6
1975	Feb 23
1976	Jan 13
1977	Jan 15
1979	Jan 29
1982	Jan 23
1983	Apr 21
1984	Jan 19
1985	Mar 28
1987	Jan 20
1988	Jan 20
1989	Feb 6
1990	Feb 15
1991	Jan 29
1993	Jan 3
2002	Jan 30
2011	Feb 4
2019	Jan 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1932	345
1933	307
1934	324
1935	327
1936	315
1937	323
1938	315
1939	301
1940	330
1941	326
1942	360
1943	323
1944	293
1945	313
1946	318
1947	295
1948	293
1949	298
1950	283
1951	278
1952	319
1953	287
1954	358
1955	309
1957	303
1958	297
1959	318
1960	276
1961	321
1962	301
1963	323
1964	262
1965	294
1966	298
1967	280
1968	328
1969	331
1970	333
1971	277
1972	311
1973	335
1975	279
1976	318
1977	349
1978	337
1979	294
1980	316
1981	363
1982	339
1983	212
1984	309
1985	277
1986	363
1987	327
1988	339
1989	327
1990	309
1991	305
1992	363
1993	361
1994	363
1995	363
1996	363
1997	363
1998	354
1999	363
2000	363
2001	363
2002	321
2003	360
2004	363
2006	363
2009	363
2010	363
2011	329
2012	363
2014	361
2020	363
2021	363
2022	345
2023	363
2024	363

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1932	28.3 °C
1934	30.1 °C
1935	28.6 °C
1936	29.7 °C
1937	29.5 °C
1938	29.1 °C
1939	29.7 °C
1940	30.4 °C
1941	28.1 °C
1942	28.3 °C
1943	29.5 °C
1944	27.8 °C
1945	28.7 °C
1946	28.4 °C
1947	29.4 °C
1948	28.7 °C
1949	29.4 °C
1950	28.6 °C
1951	27.5 °C
1952	29.8 °C
1953	28.5 °C
1954	29.2 °C
1955	28.4 °C
1956	29.3 °C
1957	28.4 °C
1958	28.9 °C
1959	28.3 °C
1960	28.7 °C
1961	27.5 °C
1962	28.1 °C
1963	27.5 °C
1964	27.5 °C
1965	26.8 °C
1966	28.7 °C
1967	27.2 °C
1968	27.6 °C
1969	28.9 °C
1970	28.3 °C
1971	28.1 °C
1972	28.4 °C
1973	28.5 °C
1974	28.8 °C
1975	27.0 °C
1976	27.7 °C
1977	27.2 °C
1978	28.5 °C
1979	28.4 °C
1980	28.0 °C
1981	29.2 °C
1989	29.6 °C
1995	29.2 °C
2009	30.1 °C
2010	29.2 °C
2011	29.5 °C
2012	29.9 °C
2014	29.9 °C
2020	30.6 °C
2021	30.8 °C
2022	30.9 °C
2023	30.2 °C
2024	30.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1933, Calexico's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 6 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from El Centro 2 Ssw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Heber El Centro Holtville Imperial Seeley Brawley