Bakersfield, CA Frost Dates: Last Spring and First Fall Frost

Frost leaves Bakersfield on January 31 and comes back on December 8 when the odds are even, a window of 312 days for tender plants.

Put February 27 and November 23 on the calendar as well. A spring freeze after the first of them, or a fall freeze before the second, happens in only one year out of ten, so those dates cover nine years in ten. Against a median of 229 days for the 100 cities on these pages, Bakersfield has a season 83 days longer, 17th on the list.

Behind every date on this page is one weather station, Bakersfield 5 NW (NOAA USC00040444), 4.6 miles north of Bakersfield's internal point in the Census Bureau's files and about 470 feet up.

When is the last frost in Bakersfield?

Read the table from the top: a freeze on or after February 27 is a one-in-ten spring, after January 31 is a coin toss, and after December 31 is the usual case.

There are 58 days between the early and late dates, a broader band than most cities on these pages show. In Bakersfield the typical date is a weaker promise than it looks.

First fall frost in Bakersfield

NOAA's early fall date for Bakersfield is November 23, its even-odds date is December 8 and its late date is January 1; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

The fall dates spread over 39 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. One year in ten brings the first freeze 15 days ahead of the typical date.

Bakersfield's frost-free season

Bakersfield has far more frost-free days than the middle of these pages, and slow crops benefit most, as the planting dates below show. A typical year gives 312 days, but nine years in ten still give at least 278 days; 34 days separate the two, a larger swing than most cities here show, so a crop that needs the full typical season is a gamble in Bakersfield.

These figures are NOAA's own counts of freeze-free days across its simulated years, which is why they can differ a little from the days between the two typical dates. A night at or below 32°F turns up in 97.7% of years at Bakersfield 5 NW, so frost is nearly a yearly event; in the other 2.3% winter passes without one.

Hard freeze dates for Bakersfield

Light frost and hard freeze are well separated in Bakersfield. In fall the typical 28°F night comes on December 20, 12 days after the first 32°F frost on December 8; in spring the last one comes on January 3, 28 days before the last 32°F frost. Crops that tolerate light frost have that stretch to themselves. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after February 1, and one fall in ten sees the first by December 2.

Using Bakersfield's frost dates in the garden

In Bakersfield the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on January 31: lettuce from January 3 to January 10, cabbage on January 3, seed potatoes from January 17 to January 24, then peppers on February 14 and beans from January 31. The University of New Hampshire Extension sheet gives peas no frost count at all; sow them as soon as the soil thaws.

27 days lie between the typical and late dates in Bakersfield, enough to decide whether you plant tender crops early with a cover ready or wait for a safer spring.

Bakersfield's first frost leaves room for only 33 of the 34 fall crops, counting back NC State Extension's days to harvest and University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days; for the other 1 the last planting day falls before July. The slowest crop that still fits is bulb onions, which needs 138 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 8.

Worked example: planting broccoli for fall in Bakersfield

Broccoli transplants need up to 80 days to reach harvest by NC State Extension's table, and University of Georgia Extension adds 18 days to harvest, so 98 days must pass before frost. In Bakersfield the last planting day is September 1 against the typical first frost on December 8, and August 17 against the early date on November 23.

15 days separate the two last days, enough that in Bakersfield the earlier one is worth following.

In spring the same family goes in earlier: counting from January 31, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on January 3, weeks ahead of the last frost.

About the Bakersfield 5 NW station

The station is 4.6 miles north of the Census Bureau's internal point for Bakersfield, near enough to be the city's reference record, though not in the same yard.

At about 470 feet, it ranks above 34 and below 65 of the 100 stations used for these pages. NOAA flags this station's record as representative, the code R, for the data behind its 50% last-frost value.

No elevation is available for Bakersfield in the Census data we saved, so the station's height may or may not match your garden's. Compare nearby stations in the frost dates tool if it does not, and err toward the colder dates.

How Bakersfield's frost dates compare

Here is how Bakersfield, with a last frost on January 31 and a first frost on December 8, compares with the three nearest cities on these pages, the closest being Fresno, CA at 107 miles.

• Fresno, CA lies 107 miles north-west of Bakersfield. Typical last frost January 14, first frost December 14, 337 days between; the last frost is 17 days earlier than in Bakersfield, and it has 25 days more without frost.
• San Bernardino, CA lies 130 miles south-east of Bakersfield. Typical last frost January 27, first frost December 19, 329 days between; its last frost comes 4 days before Bakersfield's, and the frost-free season is 17 days longer than Bakersfield's.
• Riverside, CA, 135 miles to the south-east: last frost January 9, first frost December 25, 353 days frost-free; the last frost is 22 days earlier than in Bakersfield, and the season runs 41 days longer.

Put the frost dates to work

To go beyond the crops above, use the spring planting planner and fall planting planner, both set to this station. The frost dates tool shows the full odds for Bakersfield, and the hardiness zone lookup gives the winter-cold zone for your ZIP code.

Looking for another city? The city frost dates index lists every page, grouped by state.

For California, the state planting pages copy the Extension calendar (UC Master Gardener Program) crop by crop and region by region: tomatoes in California, peppers in California, cucumbers in California, summer squash in California, green beans in California. Set those windows beside the frost dates above.

Where these numbers come from

NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020 (doi:10.25921/4ek7-fk11) supply every frost date here, unchanged from the station's record, and NOAA's documentation defines the probabilities. The city and its internal point come from the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer of places, and the ranking by size from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 city and town population estimates, which put Bakersfield at 417,468 people.

University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension supply the planting rules; this page only counts them from the station's dates. See how we source every figure for the checks behind them.

Frost dates are long-term odds, not a forecast. Before you plant, check the local forecast for the coming week, and keep row cover or old sheets handy for the nights the odds get wrong.