When to plant in Willows, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 18

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 15

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 27

1 year in 10 by Nov 10

Frost-free days

264

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Willows 6 W · 9.5 km away · station 71 m, town 42 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 12
Sweet pepper	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 17
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 11 – Jan 18	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 27
Peas	—	Feb 1 – Mar 1	Mar 28
Bush beans	—	Apr 11 – May 2	May 31
Carrot	—	Feb 22 – Apr 5	Apr 23
Beet	—	Feb 15 – Mar 29	Apr 6
Potato	—	Feb 22 – Mar 15	May 3
Kale	Jan 4 – Jan 18	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 30
Broccoli	Jan 4 – Jan 18	Feb 15 – Mar 8	Apr 16
Cucumber	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 7
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 2
Winter squash	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jul 7
Sweet corn	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 10
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 15 – Mar 8	May 16
Garlic	—	Nov 13 – Dec 11 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 1 – Mar 1	Mar 11
Basil	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 14

Plan all 65 crops for Willows

Willows'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
1907	Mar 26
1908	Mar 8
1909	Jan 11
1910	Feb 7
1911	Apr 12
1912	Mar 16
1913	Mar 26
1914	Mar 27
1915	Apr 12
1916	Mar 24
1917	Apr 16
1918	Apr 14
1919	Mar 10
1920	Mar 26
1921	Apr 14
1922	Apr 16
1923	Apr 3
1924	Jan 24
1925	Mar 14
1926	Feb 16
1927	Mar 17
1928	Apr 17
1929	Apr 10
1930	Mar 1
1931	Jan 21
1932	Feb 20
1933	Mar 22
1934	Jan 13
1935	Apr 9
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 10
1938	Mar 21
1939	Mar 8
1940	Jan 20
1941	Jan 3
1942	Mar 27
1943	Feb 11
1944	Mar 5
1945	Apr 5
1946	Mar 11
1947	Feb 1
1948	Apr 7
1949	Mar 12
1950	May 3
1951	Mar 12
1952	Mar 21
1953	Apr 9
1954	Mar 16
1955	Apr 26
1956	Mar 6
1957	Feb 6
1958	Mar 9
1959	Feb 13
1960	Feb 27
1961	Apr 19
1962	Mar 23
1963	Apr 2
1964	Apr 24
1965	Feb 25
1966	Mar 17
1967	Apr 28
1968	Jan 29
1969	Mar 14
1970	Mar 5
1971	Apr 21
1972	Mar 28
1973	Apr 1
1974	Mar 9
1975	Feb 23
1976	Mar 7
1977	Mar 15
1979	Feb 15
1980	Apr 3
1981	Mar 20
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 20
1984	Mar 14
1985	Mar 28
1986	Mar 14
1987	Mar 22
1988	Feb 7
1989	Mar 3
1990	Mar 13
1991	Mar 27
1992	Jan 21
1993	Apr 9
1994	Mar 23
1995	Apr 17
1996	Apr 17
1997	Mar 5
1998	Mar 7
1999	Apr 10
2000	Jan 12
2001	Apr 9
2002	May 21
2003	May 5
2004	Mar 3
2005	Apr 14
2006	Apr 1
2008	Apr 21
2009	Mar 30
2010	Apr 6
2011	Apr 8
2012	Apr 6
2013	Mar 5
2014	Feb 5
2015	Jan 4
2016	Jan 2
2017	Mar 3
2018	Mar 3
2019	Feb 16
2020	Jan 17
2021	Jan 2
2022	Apr 23
2023	Apr 4
2024	Mar 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1907	238
1908	264
1909	307
1910	291
1912	257
1913	239
1914	237
1915	211
1916	229
1917	233
1918	207
1919	229
1920	260
1921	216
1922	202
1923	243
1924	290
1925	237
1927	250
1928	226
1929	217
1930	257
1931	295
1932	256
1933	252
1934	323
1935	203
1936	216
1937	315
1938	235
1939	291
1940	306
1941	318
1942	223
1943	295
1944	277
1945	238
1946	231
1947	291
1948	233
1949	264
1950	241
1951	256
1952	240
1953	223
1954	258
1955	201
1956	253
1957	282
1958	250
1959	274
1960	271
1961	211
1962	276
1963	233
1964	202
1965	275
1966	281
1967	217
1968	301
1969	249
1970	279
1971	230
1972	251
1973	216
1974	257
1975	260
1976	266
1977	248
1979	278
1980	224
1981	285
1982	221
1983	325
1984	264
1985	225
1986	261
1987	249
1988	284
1989	268
1990	251
1991	233
1992	293
1993	218
1994	235
1997	281
1998	271
1999	223
2000	304
2001	233
2002	191
2003	188
2004	271
2005	225
2006	222
2008	225
2011	213
2012	216
2013	264
2014	324
2015	329
2016	333
2017	283
2018	301
2019	317
2020	299
2021	358
2022	222
2023	270
2024	283
2025	363

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1907	20.3 °C
1908	21.9 °C
1909	21.1 °C
1910	21.4 °C
1911	20.1 °C
1912	22.3 °C
1913	23.0 °C
1914	21.4 °C
1915	22.0 °C
1916	22.4 °C
1917	22.5 °C
1918	20.6 °C
1919	21.7 °C
1920	21.6 °C
1921	21.2 °C
1922	22.2 °C
1923	21.4 °C
1924	22.6 °C
1925	21.3 °C
1926	22.7 °C
1927	21.2 °C
1928	21.9 °C
1929	21.2 °C
1930	20.9 °C
1931	23.0 °C
1932	21.9 °C
1933	21.9 °C
1934	22.8 °C
1935	21.9 °C
1936	22.6 °C
1937	22.2 °C
1938	22.3 °C
1939	23.1 °C
1940	21.9 °C
1941	21.4 °C
1942	21.1 °C
1943	21.2 °C
1944	21.5 °C
1945	22.0 °C
1946	21.5 °C
1947	22.7 °C
1948	20.6 °C
1949	21.8 °C
1950	22.2 °C
1951	21.8 °C
1952	21.8 °C
1953	20.7 °C
1954	21.3 °C
1955	21.2 °C
1956	21.2 °C
1957	21.7 °C
1958	22.2 °C
1959	22.3 °C
1960	22.1 °C
1961	21.8 °C
1962	21.4 °C
1963	20.6 °C
1964	20.9 °C
1965	20.5 °C
1966	22.3 °C
1967	21.5 °C
1968	21.6 °C
1969	21.8 °C
1970	21.4 °C
1971	21.1 °C
1972	21.5 °C
1973	21.6 °C
1974	21.9 °C
1975	20.9 °C
1976	21.6 °C
1977	21.9 °C
1979	21.6 °C
1980	19.8 °C
1981	22.0 °C
1982	20.5 °C
1989	21.6 °C
1990	21.6 °C
1991	20.8 °C
1992	22.3 °C
1993	21.2 °C
1994	21.2 °C
1995	20.8 °C
1996	22.2 °C
1999	21.0 °C
2000	21.4 °C
2001	21.7 °C
2002	21.6 °C
2003	21.2 °C
2004	22.0 °C
2005	21.4 °C
2006	22.3 °C
2007	21.8 °C
2008	22.1 °C
2010	21.1 °C
2011	21.4 °C
2012	21.8 °C
2013	22.7 °C
2014	23.4 °C
2015	22.9 °C
2016	22.7 °C
2017	23.6 °C
2018	23.0 °C
2019	22.9 °C
2020	23.9 °C
2021	25.0 °C
2022	23.8 °C
2023	23.1 °C
2024	23.9 °C
2025	23.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1907, Willows's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Willows 6 W (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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