When to plant in Los Banos, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 7

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 5

1 year in 10 by Nov 21

Frost-free days

303

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Los Banos · 1.5 km away · station 37 m, town 36 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Jan 10 – Jan 24	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 1
Sweet pepper	Dec 27 – Jan 10	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 6
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 5 – Dec 12	Jan 9 – Jan 23	Feb 18
Peas	—	Dec 26 – Jan 23	Feb 19
Bush beans	—	Feb 28 – Mar 21	Apr 19
Carrot	—	Jan 16 – Feb 27	Mar 17
Beet	—	Jan 9 – Feb 20	Feb 28
Potato	—	Jan 16 – Feb 6	Mar 27
Kale	Nov 28 – Dec 12	Jan 9 – Jan 23	Feb 21
Broccoli	Nov 28 – Dec 12	Jan 9 – Jan 30	Mar 10
Cucumber	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 26
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 21
Winter squash	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 26
Sweet corn	—	Feb 28 – Mar 21	Apr 29
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 9 – Jan 30	Apr 9
Garlic	—	Nov 19 – Dec 17 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Dec 26 – Jan 23	Feb 2
Basil	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 3

Plan all 65 crops for Los Banos

Los Banos'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
1932	Apr 6
1933	Mar 22
1934	Feb 10
1935	Mar 24
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 10
1938	Mar 31
1939	Mar 5
1940	Mar 12
1941	Jan 29
1942	Mar 26
1943	Feb 12
1944	Mar 15
1945	Apr 4
1946	Feb 28
1947	Mar 6
1949	Feb 17
1950	Mar 13
1951	Mar 11
1952	Mar 23
1953	Apr 11
1954	Mar 18
1955	Apr 19
1956	Mar 13
1957	Mar 23
1958	Mar 7
1959	Feb 22
1960	Feb 25
1961	Feb 19
1962	Mar 3
1963	Mar 17
1964	Mar 25
1965	Feb 24
1966	Mar 4
1967	Apr 1
1968	Jan 31
1969	Mar 14
1970	Apr 28
1971	Mar 8
1972	Feb 19
1973	Jan 27
1974	Mar 9
1975	Mar 29
1976	Mar 4
1977	Feb 5
1978	Feb 3
1979	Feb 7
1980	Jan 30
1981	Feb 5
1982	Feb 6
1983	Jan 20
1984	Jan 28
1985	Feb 10
1986	Feb 10
1987	Feb 27
1988	Feb 5
1989	Mar 4
1990	Feb 22
1991	Feb 1
1992	Feb 3
1993	Jan 26
1995	Feb 15
1996	Feb 26
1997	Jan 14
1998	Jan 5
1999	Feb 12
2000	Jan 9
2001	Apr 2
2002	Feb 6
2003	Apr 17
2004	Jan 23
2005	Apr 9
2006	Feb 21
2007	Jan 24
2008	Jan 19
2009	Jan 12
2011	Feb 28
2012	Jan 20
2013	Feb 10
2014	Feb 17
2015	Jan 4
2017	Jan 18
2018	Feb 28
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 4
2021	Jan 11
2023	Feb 18
2024	Jan 12
2025	Jan 28
2026	Jan 10

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1932	211
1933	251
1934	292
1935	213
1936	215
1937	291
1938	225
1939	262
1940	252
1941	292
1943	274
1944	244
1946	241
1947	244
1949	244
1950	292
1951	249
1952	238
1953	221
1954	254
1955	195
1956	246
1957	244
1958	254
1959	279
1960	270
1961	252
1962	260
1963	249
1964	233
1965	275
1966	264
1967	243
1968	299
1969	248
1970	239
1971	235
1972	288
1973	281
1974	259
1975	234
1976	268
1977	287
1978	281
1979	285
1980	298
1981	321
1982	305
1983	311
1984	301
1985	275
1986	288
1987	268
1988	296
1989	268
1990	278
1991	300
1992	299
1993	293
1995	316
1996	279
1997	329
1998	332
1999	286
2000	307
2001	258
2002	298
2003	218
2005	239
2006	281
2007	303
2008	323
2009	327
2010	327
2011	278
2012	333
2013	297
2014	312
2015	327
2016	350
2017	328
2018	303
2019	310
2020	295
2021	333
2023	315
2024	352
2025	336

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1932	21.9 °C
1933	21.7 °C
1934	22.9 °C
1935	22.1 °C
1936	22.6 °C
1937	22.0 °C
1938	21.7 °C
1939	22.4 °C
1940	22.1 °C
1941	21.3 °C
1943	21.3 °C
1944	20.6 °C
1945	22.1 °C
1946	22.0 °C
1947	22.4 °C
1948	21.3 °C
1949	22.3 °C
1950	22.6 °C
1951	21.6 °C
1952	21.9 °C
1953	21.4 °C
1954	21.9 °C
1955	21.2 °C
1956	21.7 °C
1957	22.2 °C
1958	22.6 °C
1959	22.6 °C
1960	22.6 °C
1961	22.5 °C
1962	21.8 °C
1963	21.0 °C
1964	20.7 °C
1965	21.4 °C
1966	22.5 °C
1967	21.9 °C
1968	22.3 °C
1969	21.9 °C
1970	21.6 °C
1971	21.2 °C
1972	21.9 °C
1973	22.4 °C
1974	21.8 °C
1975	20.8 °C
1976	21.4 °C
1977	21.8 °C
1978	21.6 °C
1979	22.4 °C
1980	20.8 °C
1981	22.9 °C
1982	21.2 °C
1983	21.4 °C
1984	22.9 °C
1985	22.6 °C
1986	21.7 °C
1987	21.9 °C
1988	21.9 °C
1989	22.4 °C
1990	22.9 °C
1991	21.5 °C
1992	23.4 °C
1993	21.8 °C
1994	22.1 °C
1995	21.9 °C
1996	23.0 °C
1997	23.2 °C
1998	21.5 °C
1999	21.5 °C
2000	22.6 °C
2001	23.0 °C
2002	22.6 °C
2003	22.6 °C
2004	22.7 °C
2005	22.0 °C
2006	22.3 °C
2007	22.6 °C
2008	23.2 °C
2009	23.5 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	22.0 °C
2012	23.6 °C
2013	23.3 °C
2014	23.8 °C
2015	23.0 °C
2016	23.3 °C
2017	23.8 °C
2018	23.0 °C
2019	22.8 °C
2020	23.7 °C
2021	23.7 °C
2023	22.0 °C
2024	23.7 °C
2025	23.1 °C
2026	23.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1932, Los Banos's last spring frost has come about 5 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 9 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

South Dos Palos Dos Palos Gustine Newman Livingston Hilmar-Irwin