When to plant in Riverdale, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 14

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 22

1 year in 10 by Nov 4

Frost-free days

270

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lemoore Reeves Nas · 13.6 km away · station 71 m, town 68 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	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 8
Sweet pepper	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 29 – Jan 5	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Mar 14
Peas	—	Jan 19 – Feb 16	Mar 15
Bush beans	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	May 27
Carrot	—	Feb 9 – Mar 23	Apr 10
Beet	—	Feb 2 – Mar 16	Mar 24
Potato	—	Feb 9 – Mar 2	Apr 20
Kale	Dec 22 – Jan 5	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Mar 17
Broccoli	Dec 22 – Jan 5	Feb 2 – Feb 23	Apr 3
Cucumber	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 29
Winter squash	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jul 3
Sweet corn	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 2 – Feb 23	May 3
Garlic	—	Nov 8 – Dec 6 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 19 – Feb 16	Feb 26
Basil	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	Jun 10

Plan all 65 crops for Riverdale

Riverdale'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
1962	Mar 13
1963	Apr 2
1964	Mar 25
1965	Mar 19
1966	Apr 20
1967	Apr 29
1968	Feb 1
1969	Mar 14
1970	Apr 29
1971	Mar 7
1972	Mar 28
1973	Apr 4
1974	Mar 4
1975	Apr 7
1976	Mar 6
1977	Mar 31
1978	Jan 26
1979	Apr 18
1980	Feb 12
1982	Feb 24
1984	Feb 23
1985	Mar 26
1986	Feb 9
1987	Feb 27
1988	Feb 5
1989	Feb 15
1990	Feb 19
1991	Feb 1
1992	Jan 14
1993	Jan 25
1994	Jan 31
1996	Jan 26
1997	Apr 3
1998	Mar 7
2001	Apr 10
2002	Mar 19
2003	Feb 10
2004	Feb 10
2005	Feb 3
2007	Apr 19
2008	Apr 21
2009	Apr 16
2010	Mar 14
2011	Mar 18
2012	Apr 6
2015	Feb 25
2016	Feb 4
2017	Mar 7
2018	Mar 19
2019	Mar 14
2020	Mar 3
2021	Mar 16
2022	Mar 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1962	249
1963	219
1964	235
1965	270
1966	216
1967	213
1968	285
1969	248
1970	205
1971	235
1972	216
1973	213
1974	263
1975	218
1976	266
1977	220
1978	291
1979	215
1980	276
1981	332
1982	280
1983	324
1984	293
1985	231
1986	289
1987	272
1988	287
1989	285
1990	260
1991	300
1992	300
1993	293
1994	286
1995	363
1996	273
1997	249
2001	230
2002	274
2003	266
2004	290
2005	296
2007	216
2008	232
2009	210
2011	231
2015	259
2016	285
2019	229
2020	250
2021	253

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1962	22.3 °C
1963	21.4 °C
1964	21.7 °C
1965	22.1 °C
1966	22.9 °C
1967	22.8 °C
1968	23.4 °C
1969	22.4 °C
1970	22.2 °C
1971	22.3 °C
1972	23.0 °C
1973	22.8 °C
1974	23.6 °C
1975	22.9 °C
1976	22.5 °C
1977	22.9 °C
1978	22.3 °C
1979	22.9 °C
1980	21.3 °C
1981	24.3 °C
1982	22.5 °C
1983	22.8 °C
1984	24.4 °C
1985	23.3 °C
1986	23.0 °C
1987	22.6 °C
1988	23.7 °C
1989	23.4 °C
1990	23.4 °C
1991	23.2 °C
1992	24.8 °C
1993	22.4 °C
1994	23.7 °C
1995	23.1 °C
1996	24.1 °C
1997	22.7 °C
1998	20.7 °C
2001	22.6 °C
2002	22.9 °C
2003	23.3 °C
2004	23.1 °C
2005	21.5 °C
2007	22.7 °C
2008	23.1 °C
2009	23.7 °C
2010	21.6 °C
2011	21.8 °C
2012	23.0 °C
2015	23.8 °C
2016	23.9 °C
2017	24.3 °C
2018	23.7 °C
2019	23.2 °C
2020	24.1 °C
2021	24.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1962, Riverdale'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 Lemoore Reeves Nas (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Caruthers Laton Lemoore Lucerne Armona Lemoore Station