When to plant in Salinas, CA

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

Frost is rare in Salinas: in 10 of the last 25 springs there was none at all. Frost dates matter less here than heat, so the planting table below is left out.

Safe to plant out

Mar 6

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jan 22

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 10

1 year in 10 by Nov 24

Frost-free days

326

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Salinas #2 · 2.3 km away · station 14 m, town 16 m. How we match towns to stations

Salinas'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
1959	Feb 9
1960	Mar 2
1961	Apr 21
1962	Feb 28
1963	Mar 4
1964	Apr 1
1965	Apr 7
1966	Mar 17
1967	Mar 5
1968	Apr 12
1969	Mar 13
1970	Mar 7
1971	Mar 5
1972	Feb 2
1973	Jan 8
1974	Feb 23
1975	Jan 31
1976	Apr 1
1977	Mar 14
1980	Jan 19
1983	Jan 20
1985	Mar 3
1986	Feb 9
1989	Feb 7
1993	Jan 3
1997	Mar 4
1998	Apr 1
1999	Feb 2
2000	Jan 6
2001	Feb 8
2002	Feb 5
2004	Jan 23
2006	Feb 21
2007	Jan 22
2008	Feb 5
2009	Mar 10
2012	Mar 7
2015	Jan 3
2017	Jan 6

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1959	306
1960	278
1961	209
1962	273
1963	280
1964	226
1965	242
1966	282
1967	280
1968	235
1969	289
1971	277
1972	305
1973	299
1974	302
1975	291
1976	268
1977	249
1980	298
1983	344
1984	363
1985	256
1986	324
1988	363
1991	352
1992	350
1993	324
1994	340
1995	363
1996	334
1997	292
1998	247
1999	314
2000	310
2001	325
2002	328
2003	363
2004	309
2005	329
2006	275
2007	320
2008	307
2009	270
2010	326
2014	363
2015	326
2016	363
2017	331

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1959	16.2 °C
1960	15.7 °C
1961	16.2 °C
1962	15.3 °C
1963	15.7 °C
1964	15.1 °C
1965	15.7 °C
1966	16.1 °C
1967	15.6 °C
1968	16.0 °C
1969	15.5 °C
1971	15.6 °C
1972	16.1 °C
1973	15.6 °C
1974	15.2 °C
1975	15.4 °C
1976	15.9 °C
1979	16.4 °C
1980	15.7 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	16.6 °C
1985	15.9 °C
1986	16.5 °C
1988	17.3 °C
1991	15.3 °C
1992	17.3 °C
1993	17.1 °C
1994	16.4 °C
1995	17.1 °C
1996	16.4 °C
1997	17.6 °C
1998	16.0 °C
1999	15.1 °C
2000	16.2 °C
2001	15.6 °C
2003	17.6 °C
2004	16.7 °C
2005	15.9 °C
2006	16.2 °C
2007	15.8 °C
2008	15.6 °C
2009	16.1 °C
2010	15.1 °C
2011	15.4 °C
2012	15.1 °C
2013	16.5 °C
2014	17.1 °C
2015	17.2 °C
2016	16.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1959, Salinas's last spring frost has come about 8 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 13 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Salinas #2 (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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