When to plant in Lucerne, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 13

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 1

1 year in 10 by Nov 18

Frost-free days

289

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Hanford 1 S · 7.6 km away · station 72 m, town 79 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	Jan 8 – Jan 22	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 29
Sweet pepper	Dec 25 – Jan 8	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 12 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Jan 30	Feb 25
Peas	—	Jan 2 – Jan 30	Feb 26
Bush beans	—	Feb 26 – Mar 19	Apr 17
Carrot	—	Jan 23 – Mar 6	Mar 24
Beet	—	Jan 18 – Mar 1	Mar 9
Potato	—	Jan 23 – Feb 13	Apr 3
Kale	Dec 5 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Jan 30	Feb 28
Broccoli	Dec 5 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Feb 6	Mar 17
Cucumber	Feb 5 – Feb 12	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 24
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 5 – Feb 12	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 19
Winter squash	Feb 5 – Feb 12	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 24
Sweet corn	—	Feb 26 – Mar 19	Apr 27
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 16 – Feb 6	Apr 16
Garlic	—	Nov 15 – Dec 13 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 2 – Jan 30	Feb 9
Basil	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 1

Plan all 65 crops for Lucerne

Lucerne'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
1902	Feb 19
1903	Mar 15
1904	May 26
1905	Mar 31
1906	Apr 7
1912	Apr 21
1913	Mar 27
1914	Feb 8
1915	Feb 20
1916	Feb 23
1917	May 26
1918	Apr 3
1919	Apr 14
1920	Feb 25
1921	Feb 15
1922	Mar 31
1923	Mar 14
1924	Feb 2
1925	Mar 11
1926	Jan 26
1927	Mar 15
1928	Feb 18
1929	Apr 6
1930	Jan 12
1931	Jan 25
1932	Feb 18
1933	Feb 20
1934	Jan 25
1935	Mar 21
1936	Mar 25
1937	Feb 8
1938	Mar 31
1939	Mar 5
1940	Mar 13
1941	Apr 17
1942	Feb 27
1943	Feb 11
1944	Mar 20
1945	Feb 25
1946	Feb 11
1947	Feb 1
1948	Mar 11
1949	Mar 31
1950	Mar 13
1951	Mar 11
1952	Mar 22
1953	Apr 8
1954	Mar 14
1955	Apr 19
1956	Apr 2
1958	Mar 9
1959	Feb 13
1960	Mar 2
1961	Mar 7
1962	Mar 13
1963	Apr 2
1964	Mar 25
1965	Mar 1
1966	Mar 4
1967	Mar 6
1968	Apr 22
1969	Feb 13
1970	Feb 20
1971	Mar 6
1972	Mar 27
1974	Mar 4
1975	Apr 7
1976	Mar 6
1977	Mar 29
1978	Feb 3
1979	Mar 2
1980	Feb 9
1981	Feb 3
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 29
1984	Apr 26
1985	Mar 4
1986	Feb 10
1987	Feb 26
1988	Mar 11
1989	Feb 15
1990	Feb 22
1991	Mar 31
1992	Jan 26
1993	Jan 12
1994	Feb 19
1995	Jan 3
1996	Feb 28
1997	Feb 25
1998	Jan 7
1999	Feb 12
2000	Jan 10
2001	Feb 8
2002	Feb 7
2003	Feb 11
2004	Feb 11
2005	Jan 13
2006	Mar 5
2007	Feb 24
2008	Feb 16
2009	Mar 10
2011	Mar 1
2012	Feb 16
2013	Feb 25
2014	Jan 20
2015	Feb 1
2016	Feb 3
2017	Feb 26
2018	Feb 25
2019	May 28
2020	Feb 10
2021	Mar 2
2022	Feb 26
2023	Mar 2
2024	Jan 8
2025	Jan 19
2026	Feb 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1903	240
1904	178
1905	199
1912	213
1914	278
1915	263
1916	245
1918	214
1919	195
1920	247
1921	273
1922	214
1923	257
1924	281
1925	237
1926	315
1927	228
1928	271
1929	217
1930	309
1931	289
1932	285
1933	280
1934	309
1935	222
1936	228
1937	276
1938	219
1939	233
1940	241
1941	213
1943	273
1944	258
1945	278
1946	260
1947	281
1948	230
1949	201
1950	292
1951	224
1952	239
1953	224
1954	258
1955	195
1956	209
1958	251
1959	288
1960	270
1961	229
1962	248
1963	233
1964	233
1965	288
1966	265
1967	269
1968	205
1969	277
1970	249
1971	236
1972	216
1974	263
1976	266
1977	235
1978	284
1979	262
1980	276
1981	295
1982	235
1983	295
1985	253
1986	292
1987	272
1988	274
1989	284
1990	271
1991	242
1992	307
1993	311
1994	272
1995	356
1996	276
1997	287
1998	333
1999	284
2000	305
2001	292
2002	320
2003	284
2004	283
2005	317
2006	263
2007	272
2008	296
2009	253
2010	327
2011	252
2012	267
2013	280
2014	334
2015	300
2016	294
2017	281
2018	297
2019	213
2020	291
2023	281
2024	302
2025	345

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1903	22.8 °C
1904	23.4 °C
1905	22.5 °C
1906	22.1 °C
1912	20.6 °C
1914	21.4 °C
1915	21.8 °C
1916	21.8 °C
1920	22.0 °C
1921	22.4 °C
1922	23.4 °C
1923	22.7 °C
1924	23.8 °C
1925	22.8 °C
1926	24.0 °C
1927	22.5 °C
1928	23.6 °C
1929	22.9 °C
1930	22.8 °C
1931	24.8 °C
1932	23.4 °C
1933	23.0 °C
1934	24.2 °C
1935	23.1 °C
1936	24.3 °C
1937	23.3 °C
1938	22.0 °C
1939	22.5 °C
1940	22.5 °C
1941	21.0 °C
1942	21.6 °C
1943	21.3 °C
1944	21.7 °C
1945	23.1 °C
1946	23.2 °C
1947	23.3 °C
1948	20.7 °C
1949	22.1 °C
1950	22.1 °C
1951	22.2 °C
1952	22.1 °C
1953	21.1 °C
1954	22.3 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	21.9 °C
1958	22.8 °C
1959	23.0 °C
1961	22.9 °C
1962	22.2 °C
1963	21.3 °C
1964	21.4 °C
1965	21.7 °C
1966	23.0 °C
1967	22.3 °C
1968	22.1 °C
1969	22.3 °C
1970	21.9 °C
1971	21.8 °C
1972	22.3 °C
1974	22.1 °C
1975	21.4 °C
1976	21.0 °C
1977	21.6 °C
1978	22.2 °C
1979	22.4 °C
1980	21.6 °C
1981	22.7 °C
1982	21.5 °C
1983	22.1 °C
1984	23.4 °C
1985	22.7 °C
1986	22.6 °C
1987	23.1 °C
1988	22.8 °C
1989	22.9 °C
1990	22.9 °C
1991	21.7 °C
1992	24.0 °C
1993	22.5 °C
1994	23.1 °C
1995	22.3 °C
1996	23.6 °C
1997	23.5 °C
1998	21.9 °C
1999	22.4 °C
2000	23.7 °C
2001	24.2 °C
2002	23.8 °C
2003	23.5 °C
2004	23.2 °C
2005	22.4 °C
2006	22.9 °C
2007	22.5 °C
2008	22.7 °C
2009	23.8 °C
2010	21.7 °C
2011	22.5 °C
2012	23.5 °C
2013	24.2 °C
2014	25.0 °C
2015	24.3 °C
2016	24.8 °C
2017	24.2 °C
2018	24.0 °C
2019	24.2 °C
2020	24.8 °C
2023	23.8 °C
2024	25.1 °C
2025	24.8 °C
2026	24.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Lucerne's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 5 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Hanford 1 S (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Hanford Laton Armona Home Garden Lemoore Kingsburg