Frost dates by ZIP code: The nearest NOAA stations to your ZIP, 1991-2020 normals
Enter a five-digit ZIP code. PlainClimate finds its center (Census Bureau 2024) and the five nearest NOAA stations with frost dates, and shows each station's last spring and first autumn 32°F dates with its distance and elevation.
Frost dates near ZIP 92081
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts ZIP 92081 in zone 10a (the coldest night of a typical year: 30 to 35°F).
The nearest station, Vista, CA, is 5 miles from the ZIP's center: a night at 32°F or colder comes there in only 35% of years, and NOAA's median date of the last spring frost is January 30. By the USDA's method its plant hardiness zone is 10a.
| Station | Distance | Elevation | Last frost (median) | 1 in 10 after | First frost (median) | Hardiness zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vista, CA | 5 mi | 430 ft | January 30 | March 16 | January 7 | 10a |
| Oceanside, CAOceanside Municipal Airport | 7 mi | 28 ft | January 23 | February 22 | December 11 | 9b |
| Escondido, CAEscondido #2 | 9 mi | 600 ft | January 2 | February 4 | December 30 | – |
| Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Air Station, CA | 11 mi | 75 ft | February 16 | March 18 | December 8 | – |
| Valley Center, CA1 mi N | 12 mi | 1,290 ft | February 19 | March 31 | December 1 | – |
Frost comes later in spring at higher and colder stations and earlier in low, open ground: prefer a station at a similar elevation to yours. Hardiness zone in the table: the USDA's rule (the average of each year's coldest night, 1991-2020) applied to the station's own record.
Every frost threshold at Vista
NOAA publishes the dates for several temperatures and odds. A 30% spring date means a 3-in-10 chance of a later frost (the convention almanacs use); 50% is the median; 10% the cautious date.
| Threshold | Spring, 10% | Spring, 30% | Spring, 50% | Spring, 90% | Autumn, 50% | Autumn, 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36°F (light frost) | April 6 | March 2 | February 16 | December 27 | December 25 | December 4 |
| 32°F | March 16 | February 24 | January 30 | December 20 | January 7 | December 14 |
| 28°F (hard freeze) | March 16 | March 3 | December 30 | December 14 | December 30 | December 13 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals; ZIP centers: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. Autumn 10%: one year in ten has its first frost before this date.