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 93101
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts ZIP 93101 in zone 10b (the coldest night of a typical year: 35 to 40°F).
The nearest station, Santa Barbara station, CA, is 1 miles from the ZIP's center: a night at 32°F or colder comes there in only 11% of years, and NOAA's median date of the last spring frost is January 13.
| Station | Distance | Elevation | Last frost (median) | 1 in 10 after | First frost (median) | Hardiness zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara station, CA | 1 mi | 16 ft | January 13 | February 24 | January 6 | – |
| Gibraltar Dam #2, CA | 7 mi | 1,558 ft | March 20 | April 16 | November 27 | – |
| Santa Barbara, CASanta Barbara Municipal Airport | 8 mi | 9 ft | January 11 | February 13 | December 16 | 10a |
| Santa Barbara (11 mi W), CA | 10 mi | 18 ft | December 31 | January 29 | December 20 | – |
| Cachuma Lake, CA | 19 mi | 789 ft | April 11 | May 6 | November 8 | 9b |
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 Santa Barbara station
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) | February 21 | January 31 | January 11 | December 12 | December 30 | December 5 |
| 32°F | February 24 | January 27 | January 13 | December 12 | January 6 | December 12 |
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.