When to plant in Napa, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 14

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 6

1 year in 10 by Nov 24

Frost-free days

301

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Napa State Hospital · 2.8 km away · station 11 m, town 6 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 17 – Jan 31	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 8
Sweet pepper	Jan 3 – Jan 17	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 11 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 24
Peas	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 25
Bush beans	—	Mar 7 – Mar 28	Apr 26
Carrot	—	Jan 22 – Mar 5	Mar 23
Beet	—	Jan 15 – Feb 26	Mar 6
Potato	—	Jan 22 – Feb 12	Apr 2
Kale	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 27
Broccoli	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Mar 16
Cucumber	Feb 14 – Feb 21	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 14 – Feb 21	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 28
Winter squash	Feb 14 – Feb 21	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Jun 2
Sweet corn	—	Mar 7 – Mar 28	May 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Apr 15
Garlic	—	Nov 22 – Dec 20 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 8
Basil	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 10

Plan all 65 crops for Napa

Napa'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	Jan 21
1894	Feb 16
1895	Mar 15
1896	Mar 3
1902	Feb 3
1903	Feb 18
1904	Mar 25
1905	Feb 13
1906	Jan 8
1907	Jan 20
1908	Mar 6
1909	Jan 10
1910	Feb 5
1911	Apr 12
1912	Jan 5
1917	Apr 19
1918	May 26
1919	Mar 12
1920	Apr 22
1921	Apr 15
1922	Apr 15
1923	Mar 30
1924	Mar 21
1925	Mar 17
1926	Jan 25
1927	Apr 16
1928	Mar 31
1929	Apr 23
1930	Mar 1
1931	Jan 17
1932	Apr 22
1934	Jan 9
1935	Mar 24
1936	Apr 2
1937	Mar 22
1938	Mar 31
1939	Mar 14
1940	Jan 20
1942	Mar 15
1943	Feb 10
1944	Mar 15
1945	Mar 27
1946	Feb 17
1947	Feb 1
1948	Apr 7
1949	Apr 30
1950	May 5
1951	Mar 11
1952	Mar 20
1953	Apr 8
1954	Mar 17
1955	Apr 27
1956	Mar 7
1957	Mar 16
1958	Mar 11
1959	Feb 13
1960	Apr 22
1961	Apr 19
1962	Mar 13
1963	Apr 21
1964	Apr 24
1965	Feb 12
1966	Mar 20
1967	Mar 29
1968	Jan 28
1969	Mar 13
1970	Apr 28
1971	Apr 21
1972	Feb 1
1973	Mar 18
1974	May 18
1975	Jan 31
1976	Apr 9
1977	Mar 15
1978	Apr 7
1980	Jan 30
1981	Jan 31
1982	Mar 19
1983	Jan 20
1984	Jan 20
1985	Feb 10
1986	Jan 11
1987	Mar 20
1988	Feb 5
1989	Mar 4
1990	Mar 12
1991	Mar 11
1992	Jan 24
1993	Jan 26
1994	Feb 14
1995	Feb 15
1997	Jan 14
1998	Jan 22
1999	Apr 10
2000	Jan 8
2001	Feb 8
2002	Mar 16
2003	Feb 9
2004	Jan 23
2005	Jan 14
2006	Mar 13
2007	Jan 25
2008	Apr 21
2009	Mar 10
2011	Feb 27
2012	Feb 27
2013	Feb 20
2014	Feb 5
2015	Jan 3
2017	Feb 26
2018	Mar 5
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 3
2021	Jan 26
2022	Feb 26
2025	Feb 11
2026	Feb 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	341
1894	317
1895	289
1896	267
1902	317
1903	289
1904	254
1905	279
1906	319
1907	344
1908	283
1909	326
1910	321
1911	224
1912	359
1913	363
1914	323
1917	193
1918	164
1919	227
1920	233
1921	214
1922	212
1923	246
1924	259
1925	233
1926	321
1927	220
1928	229
1929	204
1930	257
1931	295
1932	172
1934	327
1935	218
1936	213
1937	273
1938	224
1939	225
1940	306
1941	320
1942	263
1943	296
1944	250
1945	247
1948	205
1949	170
1950	239
1951	257
1952	249
1953	258
1954	256
1955	198
1956	273
1957	259
1958	248
1959	295
1960	229
1961	211
1962	286
1963	229
1964	203
1965	285
1966	246
1967	246
1968	308
1969	249
1970	227
1971	191
1972	306
1973	230
1974	187
1975	293
1976	233
1977	248
1978	218
1980	286
1981	333
1982	284
1983	334
1984	329
1985	275
1986	353
1987	251
1988	322
1989	282
1990	259
1991	268
1992	314
1993	302
1994	287
1995	249
1997	346
1998	316
1999	243
2000	307
2001	325
2002	289
2003	286
2004	310
2005	316
2006	255
2007	308
2008	236
2009	268
2010	326
2011	281
2012	290
2013	287
2014	324
2015	325
2016	339
2018	300
2019	277
2020	330
2021	325
2024	363
2025	321

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.1 °C
1894	18.9 °C
1895	18.2 °C
1896	17.6 °C
1902	17.9 °C
1903	17.6 °C
1904	18.1 °C
1905	17.9 °C
1906	18.4 °C
1907	17.5 °C
1908	18.4 °C
1909	17.4 °C
1910	17.4 °C
1911	15.2 °C
1912	17.8 °C
1913	19.1 °C
1914	17.6 °C
1917	17.2 °C
1918	17.6 °C
1919	16.6 °C
1920	16.8 °C
1921	17.2 °C
1922	17.6 °C
1923	15.7 °C
1924	15.9 °C
1925	15.9 °C
1926	16.3 °C
1927	15.6 °C
1928	15.8 °C
1929	16.9 °C
1930	16.8 °C
1931	18.7 °C
1932	17.9 °C
1934	17.7 °C
1935	16.6 °C
1936	17.4 °C
1937	16.5 °C
1938	17.3 °C
1939	18.1 °C
1940	18.1 °C
1941	18.0 °C
1942	17.4 °C
1943	18.2 °C
1944	17.2 °C
1945	18.0 °C
1946	17.4 °C
1948	16.8 °C
1949	17.4 °C
1950	17.9 °C
1951	17.1 °C
1952	17.8 °C
1953	17.0 °C
1954	17.7 °C
1955	16.9 °C
1956	17.7 °C
1958	18.4 °C
1959	17.9 °C
1960	18.0 °C
1961	18.1 °C
1962	17.4 °C
1963	17.4 °C
1964	17.5 °C
1965	17.2 °C
1966	18.5 °C
1967	17.5 °C
1968	18.4 °C
1969	18.2 °C
1970	18.0 °C
1971	18.1 °C
1972	18.2 °C
1973	18.5 °C
1974	17.9 °C
1975	17.6 °C
1976	18.0 °C
1977	17.8 °C
1978	18.4 °C
1980	17.3 °C
1981	19.2 °C
1982	17.9 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	19.6 °C
1985	18.8 °C
1986	17.9 °C
1987	18.4 °C
1988	18.6 °C
1989	18.5 °C
1990	18.8 °C
1991	17.6 °C
1992	19.1 °C
1993	18.7 °C
1994	18.3 °C
1995	18.6 °C
1996	18.6 °C
1997	19.5 °C
1998	18.4 °C
1999	18.0 °C
2000	19.1 °C
2001	19.1 °C
2002	18.8 °C
2003	19.1 °C
2004	19.5 °C
2005	18.4 °C
2006	19.2 °C
2007	19.1 °C
2008	19.3 °C
2009	19.2 °C
2010	17.9 °C
2011	18.2 °C
2012	18.8 °C
2013	19.6 °C
2014	19.9 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2016	19.3 °C
2017	19.9 °C
2018	18.9 °C
2019	19.8 °C
2020	20.3 °C
2021	19.0 °C
2022	19.7 °C
2023	18.4 °C
2024	19.8 °C
2025	18.9 °C
2026	19.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Napa's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

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