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

Sacramento gardeners can count on January 12 as the even-odds date for the last spring frost and December 16 as the even-odds date for the first fall frost, which adds up to 341 days without a freeze in a typical year.

Because half of all years do worse than the typical date, the dates that matter for tender plants are the late spring date, February 8, and the early fall date, November 28, each of which one year in ten fails to beat. Sacramento's season is 112 days longer than the 229 days median across the 100 cities on these pages, which puts it 6th for season length.

The numbers belong to Sacramento 5 ESE, NOAA station USW00023271, which sits 2.9 miles east of the Census Bureau's internal point for Sacramento at an elevation of about 40 feet.

When is the last frost in Sacramento?

NOAA gives December 18 as the date a winter freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, January 12 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and February 8 as the date only one year in ten passes.

The earliest and latest of these dates are 52 days apart, wider than for most of the 100 cities here. A freeze can still come 27 days after the typical date in Sacramento, which is why the late date matters more here than in most places.

When is the first frost in Sacramento?

NOAA's early fall date for Sacramento is November 28, its even-odds date is December 16 and its late date is January 14; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

The fall dates spread over 47 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. One year in ten brings the first freeze 18 days ahead of the typical date.

How long is the frost-free season in Sacramento?

A season this much longer than the middle of the pack gives Sacramento more days for slow crops, as the fall planting dates below show. The gap between a typical year and a short one is 33 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. Count on 308 days, not 341 days, when a crop has little slack.

NOAA counts these days from its own simulations, so they will not equal the number of days between the two typical dates exactly. Frost is not guaranteed: 81.4% of years reach 32°F at Sacramento 5 ESE, and the other 18.6% never do, so read the dates as when a frost can happen, not as an appointment.

28°F dates in Sacramento

A hard freeze follows the first frost quickly in Sacramento: the typical 28°F night arrives on December 25 in fall, only 9 days after the first 32°F one on December 16, and in spring the last one comes on December 31, 12 days before the last 32°F frost. Tender plants get little warning here. One spring in ten still has a 28°F night on or after January 22, and one fall in ten sees the first by December 5.

What this means for planting in Sacramento

In Sacramento the University of New Hampshire Extension count lands like this, measured from the typical last frost on January 12: lettuce from December 15 to December 22, cabbage on December 15, seed potatoes from December 29 to January 5, then peppers on January 26 and beans from January 12. 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 Sacramento, enough to decide whether you plant tender crops early with a cover ready or wait for a safer spring.

Fall crops are counted back from the first frost: NC State Extension's days to harvest plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days. All 34 crops in the fall planner have room in Sacramento, with a last planting day no earlier than July. The slowest crop that still fits is parsnips, which needs 148 days before the early first frost and so must be in by July 3.

Worked example: the last day for fall broccoli in Sacramento

Take fall broccoli in Sacramento. NC State Extension lists up to 80 days from transplant to harvest, and University of Georgia Extension adds a harvest allowance of 18 days, so the plants need 98 days before the first frost. Counting back from the typical first frost, December 16, the last planting day is September 9. Counting back from the early date, November 28, it is August 22.

That is 18 days between the typical and the early schedule; broccoli planted on the later of them risks a frost before harvest in one fall out of ten.

Spring is the other end of the same arithmetic: University of New Hampshire Extension sets cabbage-family transplants out two to four weeks before the last frost, which from January 12 puts cabbage out on December 15.

The weather station behind these dates

The nearest usable station stands 2.9 miles east of Sacramento's internal point, near the city but not in it.

NOAA lists it at about 40 feet, higher than 13 and lower than 86 of the 100 stations in this set. Its completeness flag is S, which NOAA uses for a standard record.

The Census Gazetteer gives no elevation for Sacramento itself, so this page cannot tell you whether your garden sits above or below the station. If it is noticeably higher or lower, compare the stations the frost dates tool lists nearby and lean toward the colder reading.

Sacramento compared with nearby cities

Sacramento sits in a cluster: Stockton, CA is only 42 miles away, and the other two cities below are not much farther, so gaps in their dates come from local setting.

• Stockton, CA, 42 miles to the south: last frost February 5, first frost December 8, 305 days frost-free; spring frost lingers 24 days longer than in Sacramento, and it has 36 days less without frost.
• Modesto, CA, 69 miles to the south: last frost January 31, first frost December 5, 312 days frost-free; spring frost lingers 19 days longer than in Sacramento, and it has 29 days less without frost.
• San Jose, CA, 90 miles to the south: last frost January 2, first frost December 25, 362 days frost-free; spring frost ends 10 days sooner than in Sacramento, and the season runs 21 days longer.

Next steps for Sacramento gardeners

Start with the spring planting planner for the whole crop list counted from these dates, and the fall planting planner for the last planting days. The frost dates tool shows every level of risk at this station, and the hardiness zone lookup covers winter survival for shrubs and perennials.

All the cities on these pages are listed by state on the city frost dates index.

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 Sacramento at 535,798 people.

Planting dates here are those rules from University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension and University of Georgia Extension, applied to this station's frost dates and nothing else. The methodology page explains how each figure is checked.

NOAA's dates say how often frost has come, not when it will. Check the forecast before planting and keep a cover on hand.