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Frost dates in Bolivia

3 places in Bolivia, each with a last and first frost worked out from its own daily temperature record rather than from a regional average. Median dates are listed below; follow a town for the full distribution, the early and late years behind it, and a planting calendar built from them.

Earliest last frost

24 Aug

At Cochabamba, the first place here safe to plant out.

Latest last frost

19 Nov

At La Paz. Spring arrives 87 days later there than at Cochabamba.

Growing season

128–269 d

Frost-free days: shortest at La Paz, longest at Cochabamba.

Hardiness zones

9a–11a

USDA-equivalent, from the mean annual coldest night. How these are worked out.

Why frost dates vary across Bolivia

A national figure would be no use to anyone here. The growing season runs from 128 frost-free days at La Paz to 269 at Cochabamba — a difference of 141 days, which is the difference between one tomato crop and none. That is why every date on this site is calculated for one place at a time.

1 of the places here record no reliable air frost at all, so their rows read “none”. That does not mean nothing limits planting — heat, the wet season and day length take over as the constraint — and the crop pages say so where it applies.

How to read the table

Last frost is the median date of the final spring frost: in half of the years on record the last frost fell before it, in half after. First frost is the median date of the first autumn frost, and season is the number of frost-free days between them. All three are measured at the 0 °C air-temperature threshold.

A median is a planning date, not a guarantee. Plant tender crops on it and you accept roughly a one-in-two chance of a later frost in any given year. Each town page shows the cautious date — safe in nine years out of ten — alongside it, together with the earliest and latest frost the record holds. Read how the figures are calculated.

Every place in Bolivia

Listed by population, because that is how most people find their own town.

Median last and first air frost at 0 °C, with the frost-free season in days and the USDA-equivalent hardiness zone. Places with no reliable frost in the record show “none”.
Place Region Last frost First frost Season Zone
La Paz La Paz Department 19 Nov 27 Mar 128 d 9a
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz Department none none 11a
Cochabamba Cochabamba 24 Aug 20 May 269 d 9b

All countries →    Browse all crops →    How the dates are calculated →