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

Stockton gardeners can count on February 5 as the even-odds date for the last spring frost and December 8 as the even-odds date for the first fall frost, which adds up to 305 days without a freeze in a typical year.

Put March 11 and November 17 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. Compared with the 100-city median of 229 days, Stockton gets 76 days extra before frost returns.

These dates come from the NOAA weather station Stockton Fire Station 4 (ID USC00048560), 1.7 miles north of the Census Bureau's internal point for Stockton, at about 10 feet above sea level.

Stockton's last spring frost, by chance

NOAA gives December 27 as the date a spring freeze is still ahead in nine years out of ten, February 5 as the date it is still ahead in half of them, and March 11 as the date only one year in ten passes.

The earliest and latest of these dates are 74 days apart, wider than for most of the 100 cities here. A freeze can still come 34 days after the typical date in Stockton, which is why the late date matters more here than in most places.

Stockton's first fall frost, by chance

NOAA's early fall date for Stockton is November 17, its even-odds date is December 8 and its late date is January 6; the first freeze has come by each of them in one, five and nine years out of ten.

The fall dates spread over 50 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. One year in ten brings the first freeze 21 days ahead of the typical date.

How long is the frost-free season in Stockton?

A season this much longer than the middle of the pack gives Stockton more days for slow crops, as the fall planting dates below show. The gap between a typical year and a short one is 43 days, wider than for most cities on these pages. Count on 262 days, not 305 days, when a crop has little slack.

The season lengths come from NOAA's simulated years, not from subtracting one typical date from the other, so the two will not match to the day. Nearly every winter reaches freezing at Stockton Fire Station 4: 97.3% of years record a night at or below 32°F, and the other 2.7% do not.

When a hard freeze reaches Stockton

Light frost and hard freeze are well separated in Stockton. In fall the typical 28°F night comes on December 23, 15 days after the first 32°F frost on December 8; in spring the last one comes on January 11, 25 days before the last 32°F frost. Crops that tolerate light frost have that stretch to themselves. At the edges, a 28°F night on or after February 21 happens one spring in ten and one by December 1 one fall in ten; the nine-in-ten dates are December 12 and January 29.

Using Stockton's frost dates in the garden

Counting from February 5, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on January 8 and lettuce from January 8 to January 15, ahead of the last frost, and holds peppers until February 19 and beans until February 5 or later. Peas have no frost-based date in the University of New Hampshire Extension sheet: they go in as soon as the soil thaws.

34 days lie between the typical and late dates in Stockton, 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, using NC State Extension's days to harvest plus University of Georgia Extension's harvest allowance of 18 days. In Stockton only 33 of the 34 crops in the fall planner have a last planting day in July or later, and the other 1 would have to go in before then, in spring or early summer. The slowest crop that still fits is bulb onions, at 138 days, and it has to be planted by July 2 to beat the early date.

Worked example: fall broccoli in Stockton

Take fall broccoli in Stockton. 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 8, the last planting day is September 1. Counting back from the early date, November 17, it is August 11.

The two answers are 21 days apart, a wide enough gap that the early date is the safer one to follow in Stockton.

In spring the same family goes in earlier: counting from February 5, University of New Hampshire Extension puts cabbage transplants out on January 8, weeks ahead of the last frost.

The weather station behind these dates

1.7 miles north of Stockton's internal point is where the station stands, a very short distance.

NOAA lists it at about 10 feet, higher than 1 and lower than 97 of the 100 stations in this set. In NOAA's file the record is marked R, meaning representative.

Because the Census file has no elevation for Stockton, we cannot say how far your yard is above or below this station. When yours is clearly higher or lower, open the nearby stations in the frost dates tool and favor the colder one.

Nearby cities and their frost dates

Three cities on these pages lie within a hundred miles of Stockton, the nearest Modesto, CA at 29 miles, which makes the comparison below a close one.

• Modesto, CA, 29 miles to the south-east: last frost January 31, first frost December 5, 312 days frost-free; its last frost comes 5 days before Stockton's, and frost-free days differ from Stockton's by less than a week.
• Sacramento, CA (42 miles, north): spring frost ends 24 days sooner than in Stockton, and it has 36 days more without frost. Its typical dates are January 12 and December 16, with 341 days frost-free.
• San Jose, CA (55 miles, south-west): its last frost comes 34 days before Stockton's, and the frost-free season is 57 days longer than Stockton's. Its typical dates are January 2 and December 25, with 362 days frost-free.

Take these dates further

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.

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 Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer places Stockton on the map, and its Vintage 2024 estimates, 324,975 people here, decide which cities get a page.

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.

These dates describe odds over many years, not next week's weather. Look at the forecast before you plant, and keep a sheet or row cover ready for a night that does not follow the odds.