When to plant in Watsonville, CA

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

Frost is rare in Watsonville: in 9 of the last 28 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 27

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jan 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 14

1 year in 10 by Nov 24

Frost-free days

326

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Watsonville Wtr Wks · 2.5 km away · station 29 m, town 10 m. How we match towns to stations

Watsonville'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
1908	Apr 3
1909	Mar 30
1910	Feb 6
1911	Apr 13
1912	Jul 1
1913	May 15
1914	Mar 28
1915	Mar 7
1916	May 8
1917	Apr 17
1919	Mar 10
1920	Apr 22
1921	Apr 24
1922	Apr 17
1923	Mar 23
1924	Mar 31
1927	Mar 16
1928	Feb 17
1929	Apr 10
1930	Jan 10
1931	Jan 10
1932	Apr 6
1933	May 5
1934	Jan 12
1935	Mar 24
1936	Mar 26
1937	Feb 9
1942	Feb 25
1943	Feb 10
1944	Mar 15
1945	Apr 9
1946	Mar 14
1947	Jan 29
1948	Mar 15
1949	Feb 15
1952	Mar 20
1953	Apr 9
1954	Jan 26
1955	Apr 3
1958	Mar 7
1959	Feb 9
1960	Jan 17
1961	Feb 28
1962	Mar 14
1963	Jan 23
1964	Mar 8
1965	Feb 12
1966	Mar 17
1967	Feb 21
1968	Jan 28
1969	Feb 3
1970	Apr 27
1971	Apr 21
1972	Feb 2
1973	Jan 26
1974	Feb 8
1975	Feb 22
1976	Apr 1
1977	Mar 14
1978	May 24
1980	Jan 19
1983	Jan 20
1984	Jan 14
1985	Feb 10
1986	Feb 9
1987	Mar 15
1988	Feb 3
1989	Feb 15
1990	Feb 20
1991	Apr 16
1992	Jan 25
1993	Jan 11
1994	Feb 12
1996	Feb 26
1997	Jan 14
2001	Feb 2
2002	Feb 1
2003	Feb 9
2004	Jan 5
2006	Feb 22
2007	Jan 24
2009	Feb 11
2011	Feb 28
2012	Jan 19
2013	Feb 21
2015	Jan 3
2018	Mar 1
2019	Feb 23
2021	Jan 27
2022	Feb 26
2023	Mar 2
2025	Feb 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1908	182
1909	229
1910	278
1911	192
1912	54
1913	143
1914	230
1915	203
1916	188
1917	229
1919	233
1920	195
1921	204
1922	223
1923	211
1924	218
1927	265
1928	237
1929	202
1930	271
1931	302
1932	244
1933	185
1934	352
1935	219
1936	225
1942	282
1943	301
1944	290
1945	242
1946	226
1947	287
1948	256
1949	245
1952	248
1953	257
1954	307
1955	210
1958	254
1959	306
1960	323
1961	260
1962	285
1963	302
1964	251
1965	305
1966	252
1967	292
1968	309
1969	297
1970	230
1971	191
1972	305
1973	326
1974	291
1975	269
1976	240
1977	249
1978	171
1980	322
1981	363
1983	344
1984	336
1985	281
1986	324
1987	255
1988	322
1989	301
1990	278
1991	197
1992	326
1993	316
1994	278
1995	363
1996	307
1997	342
1998	338
2001	331
2002	332
2003	286
2004	327
2005	363
2006	298
2007	310
2008	346
2009	297
2010	326
2011	280
2012	333
2013	285
2014	363
2015	357
2016	350
2017	354
2018	304
2019	306
2020	362
2021	337
2022	294
2023	303
2024	363
2025	322

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1908	12.6 °C
1909	12.9 °C
1910	15.3 °C
1911	14.0 °C
1912	12.9 °C
1913	16.2 °C
1914	15.1 °C
1915	15.6 °C
1916	15.2 °C
1917	15.5 °C
1919	15.5 °C
1920	15.6 °C
1921	15.5 °C
1922	15.8 °C
1923	16.0 °C
1924	15.3 °C
1927	15.6 °C
1928	15.2 °C
1929	15.0 °C
1930	15.0 °C
1931	16.1 °C
1932	15.2 °C
1933	14.6 °C
1934	16.0 °C
1935	15.3 °C
1936	15.9 °C
1942	14.9 °C
1943	15.3 °C
1945	14.9 °C
1948	14.4 °C
1952	14.8 °C
1953	14.6 °C
1954	15.0 °C
1955	13.8 °C
1956	14.7 °C
1958	16.2 °C
1959	15.4 °C
1960	15.1 °C
1961	15.4 °C
1962	14.9 °C
1963	14.8 °C
1964	14.2 °C
1965	14.8 °C
1966	15.3 °C
1967	14.9 °C
1968	15.4 °C
1969	14.9 °C
1970	14.9 °C
1971	15.0 °C
1972	15.5 °C
1973	15.4 °C
1974	14.9 °C
1975	14.4 °C
1976	15.9 °C
1977	15.2 °C
1978	16.0 °C
1980	15.7 °C
1981	16.3 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	17.6 °C
1985	16.7 °C
1986	15.6 °C
1987	16.1 °C
1988	15.6 °C
1989	15.8 °C
1990	16.3 °C
1991	13.9 °C
1992	17.1 °C
1993	16.5 °C
1994	15.6 °C
1995	16.2 °C
1996	16.3 °C
1997	17.4 °C
1998	15.8 °C
2001	15.7 °C
2002	15.4 °C
2003	16.1 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	15.8 °C
2006	16.1 °C
2007	16.0 °C
2008	15.9 °C
2009	16.2 °C
2010	15.3 °C
2011	15.5 °C
2012	15.7 °C
2013	16.9 °C
2014	17.3 °C
2015	17.9 °C
2016	17.8 °C
2017	16.9 °C
2018	16.0 °C
2019	17.0 °C
2020	16.7 °C
2021	16.1 °C
2022	16.5 °C
2023	15.6 °C
2024	16.1 °C
2025	16.2 °C
2026	16.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1908, Watsonville's last spring frost has come about 5 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 Watsonville Wtr Wks (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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