When to plant in Keyes, CA

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

Frost is rare in Keyes: in 5 of the last 30 springs there was none at all. Frost dates matter less here than heat, so the planting table below is left out.

Station used: Modesto Ap · 8.4 km away · station 26 m, town 28 m. How we match towns to stations

Keyes'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
1928	Feb 18
1929	Apr 10
1930	Jan 14
1931	Jan 22
1932	Mar 5
1933	Mar 1
1935	Mar 22
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 10
1938	Mar 30
1939	Mar 5
1940	Feb 20
1942	Feb 25
1943	Feb 10
1944	Mar 15
1945	Feb 26
1946	Feb 14
1947	Feb 1
1948	Mar 4
1949	Feb 19
1950	Mar 12
1951	Mar 11
1953	Mar 3
1954	Mar 23
1955	Mar 17
1956	Mar 7
1957	Feb 5
1958	Mar 7
1959	May 5
1960	Mar 2
1961	Feb 19
1962	Mar 13
1963	Jan 25
1964	Mar 9
1965	Feb 16
1966	Mar 4
1967	Mar 5
1968	Jan 28
1969	Mar 9
1970	Jan 29
1971	Mar 6
1972	Feb 3
1973	Jan 28
1974	Feb 7
1975	Mar 28
1976	Mar 4
1977	Mar 14
1978	Jan 25
1979	Feb 4
1980	Jan 29
1982	Feb 11
1983	Jan 20
1984	Jan 18
1985	Feb 11
1986	Feb 9
1987	Feb 27
1988	Feb 6
1989	Feb 14
1990	Feb 15
1991	Jan 17
1992	Jan 14
1993	Jan 12
1994	Feb 1
1997	Jan 14
1999	Apr 9
2000	Jan 8
2001	Feb 15
2002	Feb 6
2003	Feb 10
2004	Feb 12
2005	Jan 30
2006	Jan 23
2007	Jan 25
2008	Jan 18
2009	Jan 11
2011	Feb 27
2012	Jan 19
2013	Feb 11
2014	Feb 5
2015	Jan 5
2017	Jan 6
2018	Feb 24
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 5
2021	Feb 18
2022	Mar 6
2023	Feb 23
2024	Jan 12

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1928	282
1929	216
1930	308
1931	293
1932	243
1933	272
1934	334
1935	222
1936	221
1937	299
1938	226
1939	267
1940	275
1941	320
1942	253
1943	296
1944	250
1945	276
1946	255
1947	291
1948	261
1949	242
1950	293
1951	271
1953	293
1954	251
1955	252
1956	257
1957	290
1958	254
1959	191
1960	278
1961	270
1962	286
1963	318
1964	250
1965	284
1966	223
1967	271
1968	308
1969	265
1970	328
1971	278
1972	304
1973	296
1974	318
1975	235
1976	268
1977	250
1978	292
1979	310
1980	310
1981	363
1982	299
1983	334
1984	311
1985	273
1987	271
1989	300
1990	307
1991	347
1992	334
1993	316
1994	294
1996	363
1997	345
1998	339
1999	238
2000	307
2001	318
2002	321
2003	285
2004	289
2005	301
2006	310
2007	309
2008	329
2009	311
2010	327
2011	279
2012	328
2013	295
2014	324
2015	327
2016	350
2017	334
2018	259
2019	303
2020	288
2021	295
2022	258
2023	275
2024	352

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1928	20.5 °C
1929	20.1 °C
1930	19.8 °C
1931	21.8 °C
1932	20.5 °C
1933	20.1 °C
1934	21.1 °C
1935	20.6 °C
1936	21.4 °C
1937	21.1 °C
1938	21.1 °C
1939	21.6 °C
1940	21.4 °C
1941	20.5 °C
1942	20.0 °C
1943	20.2 °C
1944	20.0 °C
1945	20.9 °C
1946	20.8 °C
1947	21.4 °C
1948	19.4 °C
1949	20.0 °C
1950	21.3 °C
1951	20.9 °C
1952	21.1 °C
1953	20.2 °C
1954	21.1 °C
1955	20.1 °C
1956	20.7 °C
1957	21.2 °C
1958	22.0 °C
1959	22.0 °C
1960	21.8 °C
1961	21.6 °C
1962	21.1 °C
1963	20.6 °C
1964	20.2 °C
1965	19.9 °C
1966	21.2 °C
1967	21.0 °C
1968	21.1 °C
1969	21.8 °C
1970	21.3 °C
1971	20.9 °C
1972	21.5 °C
1973	22.0 °C
1974	21.6 °C
1975	20.8 °C
1976	21.0 °C
1977	21.7 °C
1978	21.9 °C
1979	22.7 °C
1980	20.9 °C
1981	22.8 °C
1982	21.2 °C
1983	21.7 °C
1984	23.2 °C
1985	22.4 °C
1987	22.1 °C
1988	22.2 °C
1989	22.1 °C
1990	22.3 °C
1991	21.3 °C
1992	23.3 °C
1993	22.1 °C
1994	22.2 °C
1996	23.2 °C
1997	23.3 °C
1998	21.7 °C
1999	20.9 °C
2000	22.0 °C
2001	22.7 °C
2002	22.2 °C
2003	22.4 °C
2004	22.4 °C
2005	22.0 °C
2006	23.3 °C
2007	23.3 °C
2008	23.6 °C
2009	23.4 °C
2010	21.2 °C
2011	21.6 °C
2012	22.6 °C
2013	23.2 °C
2014	23.1 °C
2015	23.5 °C
2016	23.8 °C
2017	24.1 °C
2018	22.9 °C
2019	23.0 °C
2020	23.8 °C
2021	22.9 °C
2022	23.1 °C
2023	21.8 °C
2024	23.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1928, Keyes's last spring frost has come about 4 days earlier per decade, on average. 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 Modesto Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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