When to plant in Vandenberg Village, CA

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

Frost is rare in Vandenberg Village: in 7 of the last 26 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

Feb 24

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jan 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 11

1 year in 10 by Nov 19

Frost-free days

324

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lompoc · 6.2 km away · station 23 m, town 113 m. How we match towns to stations

Vandenberg Village'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
1917	Apr 19
1919	Mar 16
1920	Mar 18
1921	Apr 16
1951	Mar 8
1952	Mar 22
1953	Apr 10
1954	Mar 15
1955	Apr 19
1956	Apr 4
1957	Mar 24
1958	Mar 10
1959	Feb 23
1960	Feb 25
1961	Apr 23
1962	Mar 4
1963	Apr 2
1964	Mar 9
1965	Feb 10
1966	Mar 3
1967	Apr 16
1968	Jan 28
1969	Feb 3
1970	Jan 30
1971	Mar 6
1972	Mar 29
1973	Jan 23
1974	Feb 7
1975	Feb 22
1976	Mar 4
1977	Mar 20
1979	Feb 7
1980	Jan 22
1981	Feb 26
1982	Mar 20
1984	Jan 17
1985	Mar 3
1986	Feb 9
1987	Feb 26
1989	Mar 4
1990	Feb 15
1991	Jan 30
1994	Feb 12
1996	Mar 1
1997	Apr 8
1999	Jan 29
2000	Jan 8
2001	Feb 8
2002	Feb 2
2003	Feb 19
2004	Jan 4
2006	Feb 20
2009	Jan 5
2010	Feb 24
2012	Jan 19
2013	Jan 15
2017	Jan 26
2018	Feb 24
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 5
2022	Feb 25
2023	Feb 15
2024	Jan 12
2025	Jan 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1920	198
1951	259
1952	246
1953	239
1954	286
1955	217
1956	207
1957	237
1958	250
1959	260
1960	284
1961	182
1962	295
1963	252
1964	250
1965	309
1966	295
1967	240
1968	310
1969	328
1970	316
1971	236
1972	250
1973	313
1974	318
1975	270
1976	301
1977	273
1978	314
1979	285
1981	299
1982	279
1983	324
1984	330
1985	254
1986	324
1987	279
1989	301
1990	301
1991	309
1992	363
1993	363
1994	279
1995	353
1996	276
1997	245
1999	335
2000	308
2001	325
2002	331
2003	310
2004	330
2009	336
2010	273
2012	334
2013	323
2014	363
2015	362
2016	350
2017	312
2018	306
2019	229
2020	286
2021	363
2022	308
2023	318
2024	341
2025	347

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1919	14.5 °C
1951	15.5 °C
1952	15.3 °C
1953	15.0 °C
1954	15.3 °C
1955	14.4 °C
1956	14.6 °C
1957	15.4 °C
1958	16.3 °C
1959	15.7 °C
1960	14.9 °C
1961	15.2 °C
1962	14.3 °C
1963	15.2 °C
1964	15.0 °C
1965	15.6 °C
1966	16.3 °C
1967	16.0 °C
1968	16.0 °C
1969	15.6 °C
1970	14.9 °C
1971	14.8 °C
1972	16.4 °C
1973	16.0 °C
1974	15.4 °C
1975	15.4 °C
1976	16.4 °C
1977	16.3 °C
1978	16.0 °C
1979	15.9 °C
1981	16.7 °C
1982	16.1 °C
1983	17.5 °C
1984	18.2 °C
1985	17.7 °C
1986	16.9 °C
1987	17.7 °C
1990	17.9 °C
1991	16.5 °C
1992	18.8 °C
1993	17.9 °C
1994	16.9 °C
1995	16.8 °C
1996	17.2 °C
1997	18.1 °C
1999	15.6 °C
2000	16.7 °C
2001	16.4 °C
2002	16.1 °C
2003	16.5 °C
2004	17.0 °C
2009	16.2 °C
2012	15.7 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	18.1 °C
2015	18.5 °C
2016	17.4 °C
2017	17.9 °C
2018	17.1 °C
2019	17.2 °C
2020	17.0 °C
2021	16.4 °C
2022	16.6 °C
2023	16.0 °C
2024	15.9 °C
2025	16.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1917, Vandenberg Village's last spring frost has come about 7 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 12 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Mission Hills Vandenberg Space Force Base Lompoc Orcutt Los Alamos Buellton